In The Welfare Of War
by Mina Lisly
Summary: General Jace Wayland had been captured by mercenaries for a month while he was on an important mission for his King. But what happens when one of his soldiers save him in the middle of the night? OOC. AH. AU.
1. Rescue

Jace looked at the full moon rising through the small window of his cell and he heaved as he realised that it had been a month since he had been captured. Despair took over him as he thought of his men that were left all alone, or worst, captured and tortured like him by mercenaries looking for any informations they could sell. But what destroyed him the most was the fact that he let down his King as he failed on the mission that his monarch had charged him of.

_"General. I decided to end this endless war with the Garroway kingdom with the 'diplomacy' needed." King Valentine told him as they were alone in the Council room._

_The Garroway kingdom had been at war with theirs for over a decade, claiming a land that didn't belong to them. Beside, they wanted to swallow the Morgenstern kingdom and have King Valentine bend on one knee to proclaim King Luke as the one and only ruler of both of the kingdoms, which wasn't of the Morgenstern's king liking._

_"Are you intending on sending peace emissaries?" Jace asked, already knowing the answer to his question._

_The King was everything to Jace. It was the King who caught him stealing when he was ten years old and still took him in. He put Jace in the army forces and vouched for him, coming weekly to see his progress and slowly placing in him a trust that no one ever put in Jace before. The King came to trust Jac_e _so much that he named him General, despite his young age to be so and he trusted him to form his best soldiers._

_"No." The King said with a sad smiling that Jace shared. They both knew that his question had been useless. "I want you to take of your fifty best men and go to this kingdom to settle this once and for all."_

_"Are you sending me to kill him?" Jace bluntly asked because he knew that the King liked his honesty. At least when it was just the two of them. King Valentine seemed torned by the question, as if he was still having an internal struggle about this, but then he said:_

_"I am sending you to save countle_ss _lives. I will not spare lives of countless soldiers in a war that neither of us can win. If you have to kill the King Luke in the end, so be it."_

_Jace nodded, understanding that the King was hoping that it wouldn't come to that. It seemed that the monarch had another plan installed but that he didn't want to share it with Jace. They both stayed silent for a while, and Jace noticed that the King seemed to be devastated by the decision he just took, but before Jace could say anything about it, the King regained his features and said:_

_"It will probably take you six months to reach his kingdom, and several weeks to find a way to approach him. I trust you to make the right decisions at the right times."_

_"I will."_

"_And I trust you to trust your soldiers." King Valentine said with a firm and imposing tone. "A different perspective can be the difference between war and peace."_

_Jace nodded once again, and the King slowly paced in the Council room, his hands in his back. Jace waited for the King to dismiss him, but the monarch kept on pacing, obviously preoccupied by what he was about to say, which alarmed Jace a little. King Valentine never hesitated in sharing with him his doubts in manner of war or battle plans. So what was wrong?_

"_You will take ten men in addition of your squad. Untrained." The King said as he sat in the throne, and Jace frowned. He couldn't spare time in training men to become soldiers._

_"Your majesty, it's suicide that to take_"_

_"It's not a suggestion. It's an order. They are untrained as soldiers, but they know about the art of war." King Valentine firmly said, everything in his tone indicating that he wouldn't give in to Jace. So Jace nodded and bowed to his King before taking his leave. As Jace was opening the door, the King said:_

_"I am not sending you there to die, Jace. I want you to come back. I want you to come back with your soldiers, and my men. All of you."_

And now, he had failed his King. The mission would never be accomplished and he wasn't even sure that his men had been able to go back to the kingdom.

If he had listened to his King and took more in consideration his soldiers opinion. Magnus did told him that they were going the wrong way and that they should head north. But Jace refused to listen because he didn't want to trust the opinion of someone who wasn't a soldier to begin with. Magnus was one of the ten men imposed by the King, and he was the most insubordinate one. Every order seemed to be a reason to argue with Jace. And even though he was doing his best to not make any difference between his soldiers and the ten added men, Magnus never lost an occasion to remind Jace that difference.

Suddenly, someone slapped him hard and strong and swiftly brought their hand on his mouth to prevent him from making any noise. Jace opened his eyes wide -realising he had been sleeping- and he saw one of his soldiers looking at him with green eyes, pleading for him to keep quiet.

The soldier had a dirty face, a hood over his head and a scarf covering his mouth. Jace never actually really saw his whole face. It was one of the men that the king had imposed onto him and Jace never liked him. He wasn't army material, not even farm material. He was too small, too weak. The only thing he was quite good at was the bow. No one knew his name for he was mute. Not even the men with whom he came. But most of all, he made Jace feel uneasy. Despite this aura of déjà vu surrounding the soldier, his whole presence made Jace uneasy.

"How did you come in?" Jace uselessly asked. It's not like he would answer. The soldier pointed the window, and Jace frowned. The window was up too high to be climbed. And the bars were supposed to prevent anyone to pass through them. But this soldier was actually really small. Jace remembered the first time he saw him in armour, he thought it was a joke and that the King actually sent him a kid.

Silently and carefully, the soldier picked the lock of Jace's manacles and Jace massaged his writs before he tried to get up. He soldier rested a small but firm hand on Jace's chest and signified him to stay put, and then he walked to the window to cut down a cord. He looked at the sky through the bar and seemed to be waiting for something before he went back to Jace's side and handed him a gourd of water. Jace greedily drank, thankful for this liquid life, and suddenly, a wolf howled in the night.

The soldier snapped his head up and signified to Jace to stay silent as he disappeared in the shadows of the cell, right beside the door. A long minute passed by, and Jace was about to ask him what he was waiting for, when the guard that Jace daily saw, entered with the same vicious smile that he always had, but before he could make any step toward Jace, the soldier jumped on the guard's back and sliced his throat, a hand on the guard's mouth to keep the scream in.

As the guard fell on the floor, the soldier stayed on his back, waiting for the last drop of life to escape him, and when the guard was completely lifeless, the soldier got up and walked back to the window. There he pulled another cord and a bow and arrows appeared. He placed the arrows in his and readied the bow in his hands, and after giving Jace a sword, he signified him to follow him outside the cell.

Jace noticed that the soldier wasn't wearing any equipment like he should have, but that it made him seem lighter and more aware of his movements. They silently walked down the stairs of the donjon, the soldier being silent as a ghost as he walked on the cold stones and swift as thunderstruck as he drew an arrow to plant it in the throat of a wandering guard. The soldier ran to the guard and hissed when he didn't reach him in time, letting him fall in a loud clash.

Jace readied his sword, knowing that this sound would draw the other guards and the soldier got on his knees, playing with something under his cape. Jace tried to make him getup, but the soldier waved him off, signifying him to run first. Jace stubbornly stayed put, refusing to leave one of his men behind -especially a man who was risking his life to save him- and suddenly, a fire grew between the hands of the soldier.

The soldier let the fire run wild in the corridor, and he took Jace by the arm and made him run in the opposite direction, right toward a window, and at the last second, he violently pushed Jace through it. Jace fell on a large amount of straw and he had to roll at the last second as his soldier landed next to him in a more graceful way than him. Before Jace could even think of where they were in the keep, the soldier yanked his arm and made him run somewhere precise, but they were stopped by an arrow shot at them. The soldier curved his bow and span at the last second to shoot an archer on the roof. He was already aiming at another one when Jace spotted a door and so he pulled them both through it.

Once they were sheltered from the arrows, Jace tried to catch his breathe, looking at the soldier who was looking through the porthole. He seemed worried about something, and Jace could tell about what. They could hear orders being shut through the whole keep about finding him and bringing him back to his cell, no matter what.

"You should have gone through the mission and left me behind." Jace informed the soldier, and the soldier walked determinedly toward the ascending stairs. Jace caught up with him and said: "The way out is down, not up."

The soldier shook his head and pointed up before showing the few arrows he had left. Jace was about to retort that he was still his general and that he knew better when a squad of guards surprised them. Jace drew his sword and fought off the first guard on his reach while the soldier was backing off. He seemed about to shoot arrows when he thought better of it and put down his bow to draw two long daggers and run by Jace's side.

They both fought side by side, Jace swiftly recovering a second sword to fight off the guards, and little by little, the guards' number diminished. Jace was fighting one last guard while the soldier was busy with another one, but when Jace planted his sword in the guard's stomach, he saw his soldier fly across the corridor and unfriendly meet the cold and stoned wall. The soldier cried out of pain, his hood scarf and hood falling, and Jace threw a sword at the guard, shocked by what he was hearing and seeing:

"You're a _girl_!"

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**~.o.O.o.~**

**.**

**So this is an ****idea that grew this afternoon out of nowhere. I'm ****not sure if I should give it a suit, what do you think? Let me know if I should continue or not.**

**Anyways, Cassandra Clare owns the Mortal Instruments franchise, everything else is mine.**

**Kiss㈍9 Kiss㈍9 Bang㈝9 Bang㈝9.**


	2. The Girl

**To all the guests who asked for an update, here it is, sooner than ecpected. Hope that you'll like it. **

**To the ones wondering about Clary, I won't tell. This story is a Jace story, so we will only know what Jace knows. **

**Well, enjoy**

.

**~.o.O.o.~**

**.**

The girl replaced the hood on her head and swiftly put back the scarf on her mouth as if nothing happened. Jace looked at her hiding her vibrant red hair, holding back his anger at having been fooled like that. It wasn't the place or time to do so. The girl started walking up the stairs and Jace shouted, "What in the Hell are you ? The exit is still downstairs."

The girl heaved and strongly pulled Jace's arm for him to follow her upstairs. Jace reluctantly went with her, and once they were up in the tower, the girl closed the door and secured it. Jace glanced around and saw that they were in the armoury and as the girl was walking to the window, he pointed out the obvious, again: "_You're a girl_!"

The girl ignored him and Jace walked up to her to grab her arm and force her to look at him. He removed her hood and scarf, but the girl glared at him before she tried to retake possession of her arm. Jace tightened his grip on her arm, but she didn't blink, apparently unfazed by his iron grip.

"I know you can talk." Jace said in a low growl, but the girl indulged herself in rolling her eyes, yanking her arm off of Jace's hand. She walked to the arsenal of arrows and refilled her stock before going back to the window. Then she took a mirror out of her cloak and waited a few moments playing with the reflection of the moon. After a few minutes of waiting during which Jace anxiously watched the door, the girl smiled and arched her bow to shoot an arrow linked to a cord, outside.

She tested the cord before taking a handkerchief out of her cloak and passing it through the cord. Then she turned her head to Jace, and signified him to come. Jace walked to her and took the handkerchief to test himself the cord. The cord would allow him to jump past the wall while he would still be in the air. Jace stayed thoughtful for a second, watching the men of the keep hurrying themselves to the court and then he pointed out:

"The cord can't hold us both."

"I know." The girl finally said and Jace understood why she pretended to be mute. Her voice alone would sell her out as a girl. She pushed him a little for him to jump out of the window. "I'll be right behind you,"she assured him, but Jace couldn't think like that. A general was always the last one leaving the battlefield, and even if she was a girl, she still had been his soldier for five months.

"I'm not-" He started, but the girl shook her head and cut him off as she replaced her hood and scarf:

"Your soldiers need you. Go." Jace was about to argue again, but she drew her long dagger and insisted with force: "_Now_!"

Jace took the handkerchief and let himself slide along the cord. He jumped once he crossed the wall and rolled on the grass only to realise how deep into his rescue the girl had thought. Standing in front of Jace were two horses without riders and his lieutenant, Alexander Lightwood, waiting with Magnus. They looked at Jace with relief and got down from their own horses to help Jace get up.

As soon as Jace was on his feet, Magnus expectantly looked behind him where the cord was. Jace tried to catch his breath, his hands on his knees when Magnus anxiously asked: "Where's the mute?"

"Right beh-" Jace cut himself off and helplessly looked at the cord falling limp. He made a move to go back to the keep, but Alexander stopped him:

"Wait. We didn't risk all of this for nothing. Magnus, go take back the men of the East door to camp. I will bring him back."

Magnus looked deeply into Alexander's eyes, exchanging with him a significant look before he jumped on his horse and said with insistence,"_Whole_."

"I know," Alexander said with a slight nod and Magnus took off on his horse, leaving Jace and his lieutenant. Alexander climbed back on his horse and looked at the keep where they could hear men barking orders at the keep. Alexander's eyes wandered on the keep as he asked:

"Where did you leave him?"

"In the second tower." Jace said, his eyes steady on the tower he just left as he wondered how he could have been so stupid. Had he been in her position, Jace would have done the same thing. He left a soldier behind, and now there was a hundred percent chance that she would be captured and killed. Or even worse, given her gender.

"He'll make it. We just have to wait here." Alexander assured him, placing a blind faith in a soldier he didn't even know and Jace jumped on his horse and asked his lieutenant:

"Why didn't you carry on with the mission?"

"Magnus insisted on bringing you back. He said that the King _specifically_ asked for your return."

"The King also insisted in the return of his ten men. And one is now trapped in that keep," Jace angrily snapped, pointing a desperate finger to the keep and Alexander kept his eyes steady on the keep, not the slightest fazed by his General's raising temper.

A flamed arrow suddenly flew high in the sky and Alexander said that they should move west. Jace was about to remind his lieutenant about the mute soldier when Alexander said, pulling the spare horse by its leach:

"The mute has more resources than you gave him. He did just broke you out of that keep."

Jace repressed himself from rolling his eyes, knowing how _resourceful_ this 'soldier' could be. She managed to stay undiscovered for five months. How did she manage to hide from everyone her true nature?

Suddenly, out of nowhere, someone jumped on the spare horse and looked at them. The girl was there, panting, her hood and scarf back on, and she exchanged a long look with Alexander. Jace stared at the girl with intensity before Alexander said that they should ride back to camp. Alexander lead the way, the girl closing it, and after riding for a good hour, they arrived at the camp.

The men cheered for their General when they saw him getting down from his horse, and Jace smiled to ease their eagerness. Many asked how the rescue went, but Alexander shook his head, saying that the General needed rest, and as they were nearing his tent, Jace wrapped a firm hand on the girl's arm, signalling to her that they had to talk. Once in the tent, Alexander started resuming everything that he missed, but Jace raised a commanding hand and ordered, "Leave us."

Jace caught the way Alexander looked at the soldier, and then his lieutenant left. Jace and the girl stared at each other for a long minute before he finally let go of her arm to remove her hood and scarf. Jace forcefully took her chin between his fingers and examined her face.

Her face was small and delicate, she couldn't even pass for androgyne, it was obvious that she was a girl. How could he have not noticed during those five months that there was a girl among his soldiers? Her green eyes never blinked away from his, and Jace let go of her, feeling this feeling of unease growing in him like every time he was around him/her.

Jace started pacing, wondering how he was going to deal with that situation. Girls weren't allowed in armies. If he was following the law, he should have her hanged for treachery. But she had risked her own life to save his.

"What's your name?" Jace asked, buying time as he was trying to delay the moment he would have to take a tragic decision. The girl stubbornly stayed silent, her jaw tightly clenched and Jace snapped at her:

"_Who_ do you think you are to trespass rules like that? You are not meant to be here! Your condition slowed us down because you are not meant to be here. You are too weak to wear an armour or handle a sword properly. You are too small to carry someone. _You're place isn't here_."

The girl didn't utter a single word, infuriating Jace even more. She could at least try to defend and justify herself instead of staying blank like that. Jace swiftly glanced at her before averting his eyes from her and he heaved, passing a hand in his hair:

"I will send you back to the Kingdom with two of the men who came with you. A life for a life. I will not deport you, because you saved me, but I will not keep you here, either."

The girl didn't say anything, and when Jace glanced over her again, he noticed the way she was holding back her tears. He couldn't care the less in the world if he was being harsh on her. She was the one who was where she shouldn't be. But then he noticed that the hand he used to hold her arm was sticky, and when he looked down, Jace noticed that it was all bloody.

He knew that she hadn't been injured during their fight side by side-just a bump against a wall-and so he deduced that she must have had to fight her way out of the keep. He was about to ask to examine her arm when Magnus entered in the tent without being allowed to. Magnus rushed to the girl, and took her in his arms, inquiring about her wellbeing.

Jace watched them look at each other and then she whispered something to Magnus. Jace took in the fact that Magnus knew about her secret, and then he glanced at the entrance where was standing Alexander and he noticed that his lieutenant didn't seem surprised by the presence of a girl in the General's tent.

Magnus briefly examined the girl's arm before putting her hood back on her face. Then he turned to look at Jace with the same disdain he always had and he said, "You're not sending any of us anywhere. The King gave you strict orders, and one of them was to take us to the Garroway kingdom. You don't have the authority to send us away."

"The order has been revoked by recent _development_." Jace coldly replied, obviously pointing out the fact that there was a girl in his troops.

"_Why_?" Magnus asked, not slightly impressed by the General angry tone and face. "Because she's a girl? She's the one who saved you from that keep! She's the one who insisted on saving you! She's the one who organised your rescue! What makes her less worthy than any soldier here?"

And with those words, Magnus took the girl by her shoulders and lead her outside the tent. Jace was about to follow them and shout at them a few well-chosen words when Alexander rested a calming hand on his chest:

"You don't want to make a scene, General. The men don't know about her."

"But _you_ did." Jace accused and he watched his brother in arms deep into his blue eyes, wondering what his excuse was for not denouncing the faulty girl. Alexander breathed in deeply, and Jace waited for his explanation.

"I discovered it a few weeks ago, just after you were captured. And I kept her because she never complained, and that she's never been a burden. She actua-"

"She _has_." Jace cut him off. "She has been a burden for the whole company. How many times -"

"_No_." Alexander defiantly replied. He stood up straight and looked right in his General's eyes as he said: "She never slowed us down. You just never like her because she was imposed to you by the King, along with the nine other men. And anyway, how will you justify the fact that you're sending three soldiers away?"

Jace frowned before he started pacing again. He ignored the aching pain of his shoulder injury, and then he passed a hand through his hair. If he was going to keep the girl, he would be breaking a law, but if he would send her away, he would be going against his King's order. No matter what, she was still one of the ten men imposed.

"Officially, Magnus is the one who saved you." Alexander informed him. "In every way. She's still that small mute to the soldiers. Let it be like that. We still have a long way to go. We made a long detour by passing by Alicante. And Magnus knows the region when we don't. We need him, and he will go where she is."

"Does the King know about her?" Jace asked, sitting on the stool in his tent. He rested his elbows on his knees and his head on his joined hands, wondering if the King consciously implanted a girl in his troop without informing him of this fact first.

"I don't know. I didn't ask questions because I don't want to know the answers." Alexander said and Jace humorlessly smirked. Did he want to know if the King didn't trust him with an information as important as the addition of a girl in his troops?

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**~.o.O.o.~**

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"_Wayland. The King is asking for you. He's in the gardens."_

_Jace went to the gardens, his head high as he walked to his King who was sitting on a bench next to a grove of red roses. The King gently smiled at Jace and patted the bench next to him for Jace to sit._

_"It has been a long time, my King."_

_"It has, indeed. It has been a rough and dark time back at the Palace." The King vaguely said, and Jace just kept his head down. He had heard of the rumours about the illness that plagued the royal family and he knew that people were dying there. But he didn't want to burden the King with blank words that would ultimately remind the monarch of the despair he would have to face back at the Palace._

_It had been five years that King Valentine took Jace under his care and placed him in the armies, and it had been five years that the King would come to see him every Sunday to inquire about his life. The King was the one who offered Jace his first sword, his first bow, his first shield, and Jace kept each of them as a treasure, vouching to himself each night that he would never disappoint or deceive his King. Not because it was his duty, but because it was what his heart was telling him._

_"I heard that you applied to join the navy. Are you unhappy here?" King Valentine asked with that sweet voice he always used when he was talking to Jace. When he was hearing this tone, Jace could almost believe that the King was actually his father, and this is why Jace didn't fear to explain:_

_"I'm actually trying to flee from someone."_

_The King kindly smiled as he said: "Ah, so, there is a girl behind all of this. There always is. Girls are meant to be our doom, and yet, we would do anything for them. Because it's in our nature to make them happy."_

_Jace didn't reply anything, not understanding how he could want to make happy someone who would be his doom. The King gently shook his head and explained: "You will understand when you will meet that girl who will make your heart stop every time you will look at her."_

_Jace frowned and the King gently laughed, saying that Jace was only fifteen and that he still had a lifetime ahead of him. Then the King got up, and Jace immediately followed, making his monarch shake a little his head. Countless times, King Valentine told Jace to treat him like a friend and not like a king, but Jace never managed to do so._

_"Jace, I would like it very much if you stayed here. Despite your young age, I have an absolute and blind trust in you. And if things keep on worsening back at the Palace, I will need someone of trust beside me. I would like this person to be you."_

Jace never knew what the King meant on this day, but he did stay by his side because it was his rightful place. And now, because of that girl who decided to dress up like a boy, Jace was doubting the blind trust that the King always put in him.

As the camp was silent with sleeping soldiers, Jace walked out of his tent and walked to the stream in order to plunge in it and ease the aching pain of his shoulder. He got injured while he was fighting side by side with the girl, and now the pain was just worsening with time. But Jace tightened his jaw and kept the pain to himself. Even more so, when he saw that the girl was by the stream, replacing her hood on her face.

Jace silently stayed a few feet away from her, but she still turned around, the scarf back on her mouth, apparently unsurprised by his presence. They both stared at each other before Jace looked away first, not liking how her bright eyes always bore into his. It was like she was trying to look into his soul. Jace cleared his throat and said:

"Thank you for saving my life."

"Your life has never been in danger," she said in a whisper, slightly removing her scarf. "You have more value alive than dead."

"What would _you_ know about that?" Jace asked in a mocking tone. It wasn't because she was dressed as a boy that she knew about the strategies of war, intimidation and bargains. The girl gently shook her head, a small smile on her lips as she explained:

"The King values your life a lot. Everyone knows that. He would have paid a fair price to have you back. You should actually send a bird to the King to assure him that you're free and alive."

Jace grimaced as he realised that this was the first thing that he should have done and he looked back at the girl. She was looking at him with her brows slightly frowned as if she was trying to understand something about him, and Jace asked her:

"Does the King know that one of his ten men is a woman?"

She didn't say anything, her green eyes analysing him, as if she could actually dissect him just by looking at him. Jace desperately waited to hear that his King's trust in him never wavered and that she was the only at fault, but she never opened her mouth to answer to him. So Jace coldly said:

"Do you know why women aren't allowed in armies?"

"I think I got that quite alright when you demonstrated in any way possible how useless I was to you as a soldier." She replied with irony, but Jace could still hear the hurt behind her words. She didn't like being put down like he did. He heaved and explained:

"That's minor. Equipment can be changed. And if men can be trained, so can women. No, the principal reason is: _the men_. I can't have men … running wild-"

"I'm not here to seduce anyone." She swiftly cut him off, replacing her scarf over her mouth and her hood properly so Jace could barely see her face. "I'm here like the rest of you. To serve my kingdom in the best way possible."

Jace didn't find anything to reply to that. This was what animated each and everyone of his soldiers. Jace never asked a man to follow him to battle if the man wasn't willing to die for their country. This was why he trusted his men, because they wanted to be here, they were with him by their own free will.

"Does your family know?" he asked, because if anything were to happen to her, he had to know who he would alert.

Magnus suddenly emerged from a bush and placed himself between the girl and Jace, preventing Jace to even _look_ at her anymore. Magnus glared at Jace with all the disdain he could muster and then threateningly said: "You don't have to worry for her family. She knows what she's doing."

"Magnus. It's okay," the girl said with a sweet voice, and Jace couldn't help but compare the practical tone she used with him to the sweet and caring tone she was using with Magnus. Magnus smiled and turned to look at her as he told her, kissing her forehead:

"You should go rest."

The girl left, not without whispering something to Magnus's ear and then the two men faced each other. Jace had never really known Magnus, he had just appeared in the King's surroundings when Jace was fifteen. Jace knew that Magnus was older than him and that he, more than once, advised the King on political decisions. They crossed paths a few times but never exchanged more than common courtesies. Until the King imposed Magnus to Jace as one of the extra soldiers.

Magnus walked to Jace and professionally said, "She told me you were injured."

"It's nothing,." Jace swiftly dismissed him, not wanting to be pampered by Magnus, but Magnus pressed hard on Jace's injury, making him slightly hiss, as Magnus triumphantly said:

"Let me be the judge of that."

In less that the blink of an eye, Magnus had taken care of Jace's wound, and as he was applying a calming ointment on it he clarified the situation about the girl:

"You might have a deep connection with the King, but mine is deeper. If anything happens to her, I will make sure that this high trust the King has in you, is shattered. This isn't a fair warning, it's a reality that will come true if you change anything in the way you treat her. She's a soldier, like the rest of us. _Male_, not female."

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**~.o.O.o.~**

**.**

**YOur thoughts are always welcome, so don't hesitate to share them in a review.**

**And this beta-ed by Arelia Miles, so you should thank her to check for all my grammar mistakes. And she's writing this story: Crossed, and it seems more than promising: **_**Meeting at a cabin in the woods, they were unaware of each other's identity. Both were royals, and both were on the run. Not sure if they'd meet again, they parted ways, only to be brought back together, but under much dire circumstances.**_

**Anyways, Cassandra Clare owns the Mortal Instruments franchise, everything else is mine.**

**Kiss㈍9 Kiss㈍9 Bang㈝9 Bang㈝9.**


	3. Strategies

**Hey there, so here is chapter 3. For the lovely guests who took the time to review, thank you. One of you asked about the ship of this story, and all I can say is that th****e story will be evolving around Jace and the girl (but this is a fic, we're not stupid about the ID of the girl). **

**About updating, as some of you might know, I'm stuck at the hospital. And even though it gives ****me plenty of time to unleash my imagination, I still only have one eye to work, so it's pretty hard. So I'll update when I can, no promises he****re. **

**Anyway, enough chitchat, and shoutout for my beta for finding a better title to this chapter. **

**.**

Jace looked down at the letter he was writing to the King, pondering over the idea of informing his monarch about his discovery, and after endless hours of doubting it, Jace decided agst it. Whether the King was aware or not about a girl's presence in Jace's ranks was not the pressing issue. Jace had a mission to fulfill, and the sooner he would accomplish this mission, the sooner he could have answers to all the questions he'd been asking himself.

After passing a tired hand over his face, Jace rolled his letter and sealed it before going out of his tent. He entrusted the letter to his lieutenant, so Alexander would send a bird away and then walked among his men inquiring about the wellbeing of his soldiers. After ensuring that everyone was okay, Jace gave his men his battle plan:

"We will take a week of rest before going through the mountain and march toward the Garroway kingdom."

They would need at least a week to fill the provisions and make sure that everyone was well rested before carrying on with the mission. And besides, Jace wasn't really sure of where they were camping, which was why he settled to go by the mountains. He knew the territories of the mountains better than the ones of forests, and this particular forest seemed awfully dense to him, anyway.

Jace spotted Magnus at the rear of the ranks, obviously disagreeing with his idea of going through the mountain-if the frown of his brows was any indication-but when Jace looked for the girl, he couldn't find her anywhere. He tried not to be frustrated by this and walked back to his tent with his lieutenant, wondering which man he would take with him to scout out the road to the mountain.

"Make sure that the supplies are full. The mountains can be arid places with very few resources," Jace instructed Alexander as he started packing, and his lieutenant nodded, knowing what his general's next move would be. Jace hesitated a few more seconds before he asked:

"Bring Magnus here." He didn't have to turn to know that Alexander was looking at him, dumbfounded, and so Jace explained himself.

"Magnus advised us last time against the road we took. If I had listened to him, we wouldn't have wasted a month in this stupid capture. Now, he seemed to disagree with the mountain. I want to hear what he has to say before doing something stupid again."

Alexander nodded and left the tent which Jace used as an opportunity to relax. He passed a tired hand through his hair and sat on his chair, looking over at the map of the region once again. He had never been good with maps. No matter how hard the King tried to make him understand the logic behind the scales of the drawings, Jace never fully understood them.

Magnus suddenly entered the tent, pulling Jace out of his thoughts, and making him frown of inconvenience when he saw the 'mute' right by Magnus's side. She was back to being a nobody along the soldiers, her hood and scarf on, and a little dirt on her face to hide her too delicate features.

"I only asked for Magnus," Jace pointed out with annoyance to Alexander, doing his best to not look in her direction. But even as he was doing so, he still noticed that her eyes were fixed on the map with interest.

Magnus rolled his eyes, doing his best to not hide the disdain he was holding toward Jace and then he snarled, "You asked for advice on the best road to take."

"I'm listening," Jace placidly said, ignoring Magnus insubordination. Jace still couldn't understand why the King had imposed _him_ among all the men. Magnus was a politician, not a soldier. His place was behind a feather, not behind a sword.

"We should go through the forest. It would provide us cover and food. Not to mention, water. The mountain is dangerous. Eternal snows are shading the paths and we would have to deal with bandits and brigands. We don't need to waste our strengths in uselessly fighting them off, when we could cut directly though the forest."

"What says forest and river, saysvillage at the end of it," Jace practically pointed out. He couldn't risk villagers seeing a troop of sixty soldiers and alerting the King Luke's guards. After all, this mission was supposed to be secret and swift, and if Jace failed his King on the rapidity front, he would certainly not fail him on the discretion one.

"There is a way to avoid the village. It would take us more or less a week to go round it," Magnus retorted, but Jace's face still didn't relax. Jace helplessly looked back at the map, hoping that he would understand something in this maze of lines and drawings and numbers, when a small voice said:

"I could show you, if you want."

Jace snapped his head up, having completely forgotten about the girl's presence, and he noticed how Magnus tried to place himself between him and the girl, clearly disapproving of the girl. She rested a hand on Magnus's shoulder and then walked to the map, a tiny bandaged hand escaping from her cloak as she showed:

"We are standing here. Which means we are 5 inches away from the village, so approximatively, twelve to fifteen mile," the girl explained, her fingers gently tracing the map. Then she made a small space between her thumb and her pointer finger as she went on, "If we stay in a radius of five miles away from the village, we can go round it without ever being noticed. Beside, the stream would still flow near us," she finished, indicating the thin line representing the stream.

Jace frowned, interested more than he cared to admit, in the girl's plan, but before he could say anything, Magnus leaned in and whispered something in her ear. She shook her head to which Magnus exclaimed in an angry loud whisper:

"_Angel_!"

The girl glared at Magnus and Magnus seemed to cower back a little. Then she swiftly put her scarf back on and stormed out of the tent. The three men stood still for a moment, and Magnus made a move to follow her before he turned on his heels and glared at Jace.

"Is there something you'd like to say, _soldier_?" Jace asked reminding-not so implicitly-Magnus that no matter what, Jace was his hierarchical superior at this moment, and Magnus indulged himself by smirking as he responded:

"As a matter of fact, _yes_. What I said yesterday is still, and a_lways _will be, valid."

"I heard you yesterday, there is no need to uselessly repeat yourself," Jace tiredly said, rolling down the map before he handed it to Alexander. Then he said: "The mute is not coming with me, _you_ are."

Magnus seemed taken aback for a moment, and even tempted by the idea of taking the girl's place, but then he shook his head and asked, "Do you know where we are?"

"In Alicante," Jace replied, knowing that Alicante was the last territory before they would enter Idris, the Garroway Kingdom. Alicante was an arid country ruled by no one due to the growing number of mercenaries, and people usually avoided this area because of them. But Jace insisted on passing this way because it was the fastest way.

"We're actually at the border. I might be a foreigner, but I'm from East. The North of your countries are unknown lands for me. I've never been to Idris." Magnus pointed out before he added, "The mute has. Beside, the mute knows how to read a map better than anyone in your troops, he's the one you should take."

"He's the one who knew we were heading in the wrong direction?" Jace asked, already knowing the answer. Magnus nodded before walking to Jace and giving him a piece of paper sealed with the royal signet.

"I was asked to give you that when we'd approach Idris."

Jace took the letter, and waited for Magnus to leave. Then he instructed his lieutenant to get the mute ready, and he read the King's letter.

'_General,_

_I know I sent you with the mission to end this war at all cost, but the end of a war doesn't not worth ending men's lives. If I added ten men to your troop, it's because they could be of use to you. Especially Magnus. He has always been one to talk peace into people._

_When you will see King Luke, I do not want you to end his life. I know it won't come to that, but his life is to be spared because what makes the difference between a good King and a tyrant is the same thing that what makes the difference between a hero and a monster-'_

"Compassion." Jace uttered to himself, finishing the King's words out loud. He finished reading the letter, wondering how he would be able to negotiate the peace the King was asking for. Marching to peace and marching to war were two different and separate things that required rules and trickeries, and Jace only had in mind war. A quick and swift war, abruptly ended by King Luke's decapitation. Never he had thought of peace.

.

**~.o.O.o.~**

.

_Jace was walking to his King with the Pangborn's sword in hand. He just came back from his first mission as a General, and now he was proudly presenting to his monarch, the sword of an enemy who wouldn't be a problem anymore._

_King Valentine took the sword before swiftly dismissing everyone but Jace. Once they were alone, they both sat side by side, and Jace pointed out the obvious,"You seem tired."_

_"I was worried."_

_"Generals go to war all the time. This is why we are here."_

_"Maybe, but I don't consider all my Generals as my sons. I am getting old, Jace. And old people worry even more. Especially for the ones they hold deeply in their hearts."_

_Jace kept his head bent, not knowing how he should react when the King was telling him that. Deep in his heart, the King was like the father he never knew, but Jace never found the courage to tell him that. It somehow felt wrong from him. After everything the King has done for him, Jace felt that he couldn't ask even more by demanding a fatherly love. Even though the King seemed eager to give it to him._

"_Do you think I could convince you to put down your swords and to stay with me in the shadows of politics? Twenty-one isn't too old to start, you know."_

_"You could order it from me." Jace truthfully said. He liked the battlefield too much and politics too little to willingly give it up, but what his King would ask of him, he would do._

_"I thought you'd say that. Magnus says that rare are the people who have passion for both battles and politics. I will just have to tame my worry."_

.

**~.o.O.o.~**

.

"How is your arm?" Jace asked the girl, not being able to bear this crushing silence she had been imposing on him for almost two hours. He didn't used to mind when they rarely did night shifts together, but that was when he thought that she was a _male_ soldier who was _mute_. Now, it seemed that she was holding her tongue on purpose.

The girl slowly turned her head to look at Jace, as if she was surprised by his presence, and she removed her scarf as she asked back, "How is _yours_?"

Jace didn't reply anything, his eyes still lingering a few seconds on her arm that had been injured, and then he looked back straight in front of him as the girl kept her gaze on the sky. It seemed that she was repairing herself according to something Jace couldn't see up there.

They rode quietly for a moment, Jace noting somewhere in his mind that the girl didn't answer a single direct question he asked her. She didn't tell him her name, her family, her implication in this mission, and even something as simple as her arm injury seemed something too personal for her to share.

"You said that there is a village a few miles from here. Can you take me there?" Jace asked, and the girl made her horse stop in one swift motion. Her gaze was lost in the skies before she snapped her green orbs to Jace and she said:

"It's several hours from where we're standing. If we race the horses, we can be there by dawn."

Jace considered the possibility before looking up to the sky himself and shaking his head, "Nightfall is coming. And I'd rather have rested horses. We'll make camp at twilight."

The girl nodded and slightly changed the direction of her horse to make it go more South. Jace followed and for two other hours, they silently rode, the girl's head tilting every now and then to watch the sky. Every time she did so, her hood would fall backward revealing her radiant red hair tied in a really tight and braided bun, and every time, Jace would turn away, to not look at her delicate features.

When the night fell, Jace said that he would take the first watch, but he refused to build a fire so no one would be able to spot them in the night. She didn't retort anything and just got down from her horse before sitting on the bare ground and drawing her sabre. Then she planted it on the floor and rested her forehead against her knotted hands.

Jace patrolled around before going back to their camp, where he saw the girl shivering on the floor. He heaved, rolling his eyes before taking off his cape and throwing it on her. The girl sat up straight and looked at the cape, frowning and so Jace cut off any false modesty she could have:

"I don't need a sick soldier, no matter the gender."

"_It's cold,_" The girl uselessly pointed out and Jace retorted:

"Yes. That's what we call it when we're shivering all over the place._ Cold_"

"No," she dismissively said, getting up and walking to the closest tree to examine its leaves. "I mean, it's too cold for the season. _Way_ too cold."

"Get used to it, we're entering winter, in case you didn't know."

The girl shook her head and blew in her hands before she said: "What I mean is that Kings go to their winter castles when it's cold."

Jace stared blankly at the girl, even though his mind was racing, finally understanding where she was getting at. His month of captivity made him forget about the course of seasons. Winter castles were known to be impenetrable. If King Luke reached his winter palace before they attacked, they would have to wait in the cold for the new year to come and the King to leave his fortressed castle.

He looked back at the girl who was gritting the soil and little by little, Jace saw a map appear on the dirt under the moonlight.

"The troup is here," she said, making a little cross with her dagger. Then she estimated the distance and made another cross saying, "The village is here. Normally, the summer castle is in a radius of two horse hours from a village like that. Because of supplies and such."

"How would you know that?" Jace surprisingly asked. He could understand her knowledge of maps. Girls were usually raised to be cultured when boys were raised to be soldiers. But this was strategy she was talking about. Exactly like that little speech she gave back in the tent.

"Every kingdom is build the same way, with little variations," she dismissively explained. Then she looked up at the sky, smiling at something Jace couldn't understand and she said, "If we leave now, we could reach the village tomorrow by noon, pushing the horses a little. There we could ask if the King is still in his summer castle, or already in procession."

"If he's already in procession, I won't be able to attack," Jace uttered, more to himself than to her. He couldn't approach a King alone. Either it was as a war or a peace emissary, he still needed at least a backup.

"Sometimes, fewer is the better," the girl wisely said, getting up and erasing with her foot the map she just drew. Jace stood still for a few minutes before he walked to his horse and informed the girl:

"We're leaving in ten minutes.".

**~.o.O.o.~**

**.**

**Your thoughts are always welcome, so don't hesitate to share them in a review.**

**And this beta-ed by Arelia Miles, so you should thank her to check for all my grammar mistakes. And she's writing this story: Crossed, and it seems more than promising: **_**Meeting at a cabin in the woods, they were unaware of each other's identity. Both were royals, and both were on the run. Not sure if they'd meet again, they parted ways, only to be brought back together, but under much dire circumstances.**_

**Anyways, Cassandra Clare owns the Mortal Instruments franchise, everything else is mine.**

**Kiss㈍9 Kiss㈍9 Bang㈝9 Bang㈝9.**


	4. Processions

"What are you doing?"Jace asked as the girl came back from her 'bathroom break' dressed as a _girl_.

"The best way to draw less attention is to blend in. Two soldiers obviously armed aren't going to blend in," she simply said, hiding a sabre under her cloak.

Jace looked at the girl, wondering how he could have been so blind all these months. Everything about her was screaming that she was a girl. He looked at her long curled red hair falling over her shoulders, making her green eyes pop even more. Her little waistline curved by her army belt which she turned into a simple belt with dagger. Jace could swear that she even had more breasts than when she was a 'boy'.

He swiftly looked away, tightening his jaw and wondering what he had done wrong in another life to end up with a girl. Especially _that_ girl who made him feel so … _uneasy_.

"We should leave a horse behind. Just in case," Jace practically said, and the girl nodded.

He still noticed that she didn't seem eager to leave her horse behind, but she didn't question his order. She pampered her ebony horse for a few minutes, whispering sweet words in its ears and then she tapped it. The horse trotted away and the girl said:

"He'll find us if needed. He's really clever."

Jace curtly nodded before climbing on his own horse and then he leaned a hand to help the girl do the same. "Climb in."

The girl opened her eyes wide with shock as she started blushing, and Jace smirked. She might have dressed and fought like a man, but she had no idea how to deal with men. At least not as a girl.

She still took his hand and Jace effortlessly helped her sit in front of him. She was about to swing her leg on the other side when Jace pointed out:

"Girls ride with both legs on the same side."

"Oh, right," she said, blushing and looking down, even though she gracefully sat on Amazon.

Jace smirked and made his horse trot with a chatter of his tongue and teeth. They both sat still on the horse, and as the village was nearing, the girl suddenly brought her hands to her hair and swiftly made a braid with it. Jace frowned a little, but didn't ask about her move for he had other question in mind:

"So? What's your name?"

"The mute," she immediately replied, as if she had been expecting to hear this question. Jace repressed himself from heaving as he pointed out:

"That only works when you're mute."

The girl seemed about to retort something, but then she closed her mouth and looked down, whispering, "Then whatever you want my name to be."

Jace rolled his eyes and refrained himself from retorting as they were entering the village. It was more animated than he had anticipated, and after a while, he decided that they should get down off the horse. He swung his leg off, and helped the girl to jump off, which she did with unexpected grace.

They walked side by side in silence and suddenly, the girl spotted a shop that made her smile of pure delight and she rushed to it. Jace repressed himself from ordering her to stay put, and he followed her to the bakery where she was watching the cakes with wonder. He looked at her biting her lip, obviously torn on which cake she was going to ask for, but when she opened her mouth, the words were not what Jace was expecting.

"Are those for the King?" she asked, pointing to a large amount of small breads, and Jace detached his attention from the girl to really look at the bakery. Even though the village was rather big, the amount of bread and cake was too much.

The baker shook her head and informed the redhead, "The King left for his winter castle two weeks ago. The procession was beautiful."

"Two weeks ago?" Jace asked with a blank voice, and the matron nodded. The girl gently smiled and asked for one of the bread while Jace was seeing his mission shatter before his eyes. He was going to have to wait for spring now.

The girl slightly tugged his arm so they would keep on moving in the village, and after a few feet were separating them from the bakery, she said, "The King is still here. The bread is freshly made and there are some cakes that only kings and lords ask for in this bakery. I think the procession was just a decoy. Which means he's expecting you."

"Why would a King stay in a summer castle when-"

"Because you would be expecting him to be elsewhere," the girl cut him off matter-of-factly. Jace had to concede to her that she was right.

"We'll stay here tonight, and leave for the castle tomorrow at dawn," Jace said, spotting an inn where they could rest. They sat at a table in front of one another, and the patroness walked to them to take their order with a bright frank smile.

"Oh. What a lovely young couple."

The girl opened big goggling eyes, blushing so hard that her face matched her hair, and Jace wrapped a confident hand around hers as he smiled at the merchant, saying, "Married since a week ago. We're traveling around kingdoms to see where we could settle."

"You better hurry and enjoy yourselves before the stomach starts showing," the woman said with a conciliate smile, and the girl blushed even more, snapping her hand out of Jace's. The patroness looked at the girl with a knowing smile and said that she would bring them the specialty.

As soon as the woman left, the girl glared at Jace, bringing her hands around her petite body to hide herself from nonexistent eyes. "_Really_? What was wrong with me being your sister?"

"Because we look _so much_ alike," Jace mocked and the girl looked down on her hands, still slightly blushing as she mumbled:

"Great, now I have an apple thief for a husband."

Jace looked at the girl with more attention, surprised by her words. Very few people were so well informed about his past. The patroness put down two plates of stew with a bottle of red wine before she left them alone, and Jace started eating his food as he casually asserted the obvious, "So, you're from the Palace."

"I never said such a thing," She dignifiedly replied, as if he just insulted her by relating her to the palace. Then she took her spoon and started eating with him, which made Jace smirk even more. Even in the way she was eating, she couldn't pass as a peasant.

"You didn't have to," he explained. "You do not talk like a peasant. And you always hold people's gazes. Peasants don't do that. And very few people know I stole from the kitchen. People mostly think that I tried to steal the crown."

"Well. I'm not stupid, am I? What would a ten-year-old have to do with a crown?" she snapped, rolling her eyes at the stupidity of his statement, and Jace accusingly pointed his spoon to her as he enunciated:

"And _no one_ knows I was ten. People usually think that I was fifteen when that event happened."

The girl seemed a little taken aback, caught by her own knowledge, and then she looked down on her plate and murmured, "Magnus told me."

"I thought so." If anyone was to know all the dirty secrets of his life, it would be Magnus. But still, Jace knew that the King trusted Magnus with even deepest secrets, and so he wondered who that girl was to Magnus. "What is your connection to him? He seems very protective of you."

"We grew up together," she dismissively said, her eyes steady on her plate and Jace frowned. Magnus was more than thirty and the girl seemed to be barely twenty, if not less. How could they have grown up together?

"How old are you?" Jace asked with shock and the girl bit her lower lip, glaring at her plate before she pointed out in a very cold tone:

"Does this really matter? I mean, my age is not what will define me as a better soldier or not."

"You like staying in the blur, don't you?" Jace asserted. "If I was listening to you, you would have no name, no family, and no age."

"Well, you know everything there is to know about me, now," the girl said with a bright smile, which infuriated Jace more than anything. They finished their food in a peaceful quiet before Jace broke the silence:

"I am Jace Wayland. I celebrated my twenty sixth birthday shortly before we left the kingdom. I never knew my parents, and I used to steal to survive in the streets until the King kindly took me in. I like to handle the sword and to ride my horse. What about you?"

The girl blinked, internally debating on whether she should tell him everything that was personal about her life when she suddenly snapped her head to the window and got up, pulling Jace with her as she exclaimed, "_Jesters_!"

Jace let out a small heave and followed her as she rushed outside of the inn and delightfully watched the procession of jokers going through town, showing off their abilities. She seemed literally mesmerised by the acrobats and jugglers, and Jace even chucked when her eyes started sparkling of wonder as one of the fool was spitting fire.

He let her wander in the village along the jesters, for she seemed to rather enjoy herself, but even though he gave her space, he still had the girl in his eyesight, wherever she would be. She seemed to be like a child, enjoying the beauty of a fair for the first time, and this made Jace wonder even more on where she could come from.

For a second, he thought that she was the daughter of a maid or a cook, back at the palace. But her knowledge in the art of War didn't fit. Now that he was thinking about it, Jace was picturing the girl more like Magnus's bastard, which would explain his protectiveness toward her, and her deep knowledge. And even though she looked nothing like Magnus, maybe she took after her mother.

As he was trying to figure it out the girl, Jace saw that she was now circled by three men, and that one of them was strongly pulling her toward the end of the village. The girl was desperately trying to get out of his grip, but he didn't waver a single time. Jace walked to them, noticing that under their cloaks, the men had swords and then Jace rested a firm hand on the man taking the little redhead away. The man glared at Jace's hand before he snarled, shaking Jace off of his shoulder:

"Move along, peasant. This is none of your concern."

"It is. This is my wife your dragging along," Jace explained with a strong voice, indicating that he was not going to back away. The man darkly chuckled as he said:

"Don't worry, we'll give her back to you a little more obedient."

"I like her temper just fine. And I wouldn't want to ridicule a commandant in front of his men. So let my wife go," Jace said a little more forcefully, discreetly revealing his own sword as his grip on the man's shoulder was turning to iron. The man defiantly stared at Jace before he let go of the girl and headed to the tavern followed by his men.

Jace rushed to the girl who was trembling with her whole body, and he saw that she was seconds away from crying. As he was about to rest a comforting hand on her shoulder, the girl shook her head and swallowed her emotions as she said with a wavering voice, "I'm okay. I'm fine. I'm perfectly fine."

"It's okay to break down. Every soldier does," Jace reassured her, but the girl strongly shook her head, refusing to feel anything.

"I'm fine, I said." But as she was trying to convince herself with those words, tears trickled down her face, her whole body trembling of what almost happened. Jace took her in his arms and she cried against his chest and he shushed her down, soothing her by caressing her hair.

A part of him was surprised that _this_ was what made her break down. Every solider had a breakdown in their career, but usually it was after their first kill, or their first bloody battle. Jace had been expecting this break down to happen to the girl after his rescue from the keep, but it never happened. And what surprised Jace the most was that she didn't even try to defend herself. He had seen her handle worst when they fought side by side in the keep.

The girl kept on crying for a few more long minutes, and when her body stopped shaking, Jace lifted her head by the chin and told her, "It's not because you're dressed as a girl that you're any less of a soldier. After all, you managed to rescue a general from a well guarded keep, so I'm sure you could have beaten those filthy men to the ground."

Jace held her gaze until she finally timidly smiled, and so he finally let her go as she was wiping away the tears from her face. Then she said, "They weren't Garroway soldiers, or they wouldn't have hidden their identities. Which means -"

"-That King Luke is expecting reinforcements from another kingdom," Jace finished for her, slightly knotting his brows. If the Garroway kingdom was already calling reinforcements and playing decoys, it meant that they were expecting a frontal attack from them.

He glanced at the girl, and an idea sparkled in his mind, "If we find the Garroway summer castle, do you think you could break us in, the same way you broke into that keep."

The girl frowned her delicate brows, internally debating with herself, and then she nodded, making Jace smile of satisfaction and he told her that they should go then.

.

**~.o.O.o.~**

.

_"I refuse to let you enter the ranks," The General Lucian Graymark said, and Jace held his sword tightly to keep his temper in. It had been four years that he had been training under the General's hard order, and fours years that the general kept in being disappointed in him, despite Jace being the best of his students._

_"Why? I killed you at least a thousand times!" Jace cried out, and the general sternly looked at him, reminding Jace his place in the hierarchy._

"_Because, even though you have everything to be a good mercenary, you'd be a paltry soldier." Jace was about to retort when the general held his hand up and tiredly said, "The matter is closed. Away."_

_Jace started walking out of the training room, disagreeing-with every vibe of his being-with the general. His allegiance was to the King, so how could Graymark compare him to a mercenary, a man without loyalty? Before Jace could exit the room, the King entered, and everything happened in the blink of an eye._

_The general Graymark launched himself towards the King, and without even thinking about it for a second, Jace jumped between the two men, forgetting about his sword, forgetting about the fact that he was just a fourteen-year-old teenager whereas the General was a grown man with years of war behind him, and only caring about putting as much distance between his King and the General's sword as he could. And for the first time in years, Jace felt fearful. Not for himself, but for his King._

_"That's what I wanted to see," the General said, swiftly putting his sword back in place, and Jace stared dumbfounded at the army man. Then he glanced at his monarch, checking that he wasn't injured as general Graymark continued, "Fear is what makes a soldier. Because fear is why he fights. Now that you know you're fearful, tame it so no one can use it against you."_

.

**~.o.O.o.~**

**.**

**Your thoughts are always welcome, so don't hesitate to share them in a review.**

**and Lucian Graymark and Luke Garroway are two distinct persons!**

**And this beta-ed by Arelia Miles (who also named this chapter), so you should thank her to check for all my grammar mistakes. And she's writing this story: Crossed, and it seems more than promising: **_**Meeting at a cabin in the woods, they were unaware of each other's identity. Both were royals, and both were on the run. Not sure if they'd meet again, they parted ways, only to be brought back together, but under much dire circumstances.**_

**Anyways, Cassandra Clare owns the Mortal Instruments franchise, everything else is mine.**

**Kiss㈍9 Kiss㈍9 Bang㈝9 Bang㈝9.**


	5. Swords and Sabres

Jace woke up, frowning while his eyes were still closed for he was feeling too comfortable. He stayed for a while like that, analysing his surrounding with his senses, and taking in the comfortable bed in which he was lying and the body pressed up against his. Then he recalled how the girl refused to let him sleep on the floor, calling out hierarchy and elderliness, and how they settled in sharing the bed, each sleeping on their own side.

But now he was spooning with her, his arms strongly wrapped around her ridiculously small figure. Jace slightly opened his eyes and saw the girl peacefully and graciously sleeping in his arms, and so he closed his eyes again, appreciating this moment of having a woman in his arms. He stayed like that for a couple of minutes, inhaling her faint scent of vanilla, and wishing that they weren't on a mission, but really just a couple of lovers waking up in an inn.

And that's when Jace snapped his eyes wide opened and silently got up, as quickly as possible. He shouldn't have been thinking that he would like it better to lay next to her when he had a mission ahead of him. He shouldn't have been thinking of her as a_ girl_ at all. She was a soldier, like any other.

Jace passed a tired hand through his hair before he looked at the girl for a long time, seeing why Magnus called her '_Angel_' when they had their little argument. She really did look like one. All graceful and delicate as her chest was slowly rising and falling a with the rhythm of her breathing, and one of her hands was hidden under her pillow. Her face was so small that Jace could easily hide it with the palm of one of his hands.

She had petite everything. A petite waist, a petite height, petite hands, a petite face with thin and delicate features. Her cheekbones were high and slightly pink, with the shadow of long and thick lashes covering them. And her lips … pink, plump and slightly parted. It was like they were begging to be kissed.

He could so easily steal a kiss from her. She would never know and Jace would have tasted the feel of her lips. He was seriously considering doing so when she shifted a little and moaned in her sleep. Jace swiftly shook off of him any weird thoughts and strongly shook her by the shoulder to wake her up.

The girl bluntly woke up, drawing a dagger from under her pillow, and looking completely panicked before she heaved down and passed a tired hand over her face as her eyes set on Jace's. Jace had intercepted her hand holding the dagger, and was now waiting for the girl to calm down as he was internally congratulating himself for not having kissed her. She could have so easily harmed him if he had done so, and she would have had all the rights to do so.

"We're leaving in ten," Jace instructed as he got up, and the girl nodded, getting up right behind him.

Jace walked to the table were there was a pitcher of water and a bowl, and he poured the water in the bowl before splashing the liquid on his face to erase any trace of sleep he could still have. Then he swiftly put on his traveling clothes again, looking everywhere but in direction of the girl, but his eyes still caught the move she made to braid her hair once again.

"You don't have to tie back your hair. It's not like I don't know already," Jace told her, even though the real reason why he wouldn't mind her letting her hair wild was because he liked it like that. He liked how her hair reflected her personality, or the glimpse he saw of it. She was wild and fierce, and the idea of taming her seemed completely grotesque.

The girl slightly blushed, but kept on tying her hair, and so Jace took her hand in his and stopped her, as he insisted, "You should let it down. Hair like yours shouldn't have to be hidden or tamed."

She slowly let her hands down, her green eyes fixed on Jace's golden orbs as her face was now of the same colour as her hair, and, after staring at her for a few more seconds, Jace let go of her hand and cleared his throat, looking elsewhere in the same time as she did.

"We should go," she said with a small voice and Jace nodded, leading the way out of the room. Once they arrived downstairs, the patroness insisted on them having breakfast, claiming that they should take some strength after their nightly activity -which made the girl blush redder than a tomato.

After a copious meal, Jace and the girl left the village, going back to where they left her horse wander, and just a few minutes after their arrival, the horse appeared, to the girl's greatest delight. She scratched it behind its ears, whispering once again sweet words to it before she mounted the horse in one swift and graceful movement, as if she had done so all her life. As she did so, Jace noted that she took the position of a rider, not an Amazon, even though she was in dress.

"If we keep going South, we should find the road leading to the summer castle. But we'd better not take it. Many merchants might still take it, thinking of serving a Lord of some kind, so it'd be better to stay hidden by the hoods," the girl said, and Jace nodded of approval.

They silently rode side by side, the girl's eyes once again lost in the sky, and at some point, Jace finally asked about her strange behaviour, "What's so interesting up there?"

"_Stars_. Stars never move, they're the best map you can think of," the girl said with a gentle smile before snapping her head up and Jace pointed out:

"It's broad daylight. How can you see any stars? The stars come with-"

"No, they don't. They're always here. You just have to concentrate really hard." She then stopped her horse and got down to walk to Jace. Once at his level, she looked up to the sky, searching for something and then she smiled and took his arm to show him, "Follow the aim of your arm, and you should see Raziel, the stars of soldiers. She's one of the brightest."

Jace did as told, but he didn't see anything. As he was about to tell her that she was fabulating, he saw the star she was talking about, shining timidly compared to the sun, but still, she was there.

"That's how you mark yourself? The stars?" Jace asked, his eyes still lost in the sky are other stars were shyly showing off to him and the girl acquiesced. Then she climbed back on her horse and Jace snapped his head to her.

"Who taught you that?" he inquired, knowing only one person who would rather direct himself according to the stars rather than the maps. That same person who always praised the use of sabres over swords. That only person who could effortlessly beat him down because Jace never managed to fend off that person's secret move.

"No one. I'm a girl. Girls listen, but aren't really taught, are they?" the girl lightly said, bringing her hood to cover her wild hair, and Jace knew that there was more than she was saying. He was about to question her when they finally saw the castle in front of them.

Jace's eyes cautiously looked at the ramparts, wondering how the two of them would manage to sneak in without being seen and after a long minute of silence, the girl got down from her horse. Jace did the same, seeing from afar how well guarded the castle was. She was right, the King was still in there, pretending to be elsewhere.

Jace compared this castle to that of the Morgenstern's and he found it rather easy to attack. With two hundred men he could easily assault this castle and make it his until the arrival of King Valentine. But then again, King Valentine didn't have a different castle for the different seasons, and always stayed at the palace where his people could see him everyday. So Jace came up with a conclusion that for a summer castle, this castle was well isolated and rather well placed in case of attack. After all, the stream turned into a river just at the feet of the castle.

"I think I'll take a bath," the girl said, her eyes also fixed on the castle. Jace snapped his head to her, shocked by her statement. Why did she need to act like a girl_ now_?

"I won't be long, General," she assured, and Jace ticked at that. As much as he didn't like the shortness of his name, he really disliked the way she was saying his title. It was like she was putting on his shoulders an invisible and heavy weight that he didn't want.

"_Jace_."

"I'm still not giving you my name," she replied with a small smirk and Jace got down from his horse. As she walked away, he mumbled to himself:

"Of course not, it's so much more fun to be nameless."

Then he looked back at the castle, counting the windows and towers as he wondered how they would break in. If he hadn't been pressed by time, Jace would have waited for the fair to come to the castle in order to blend in more easily, but he couldn't take this possibility. He started pacing, his mind on the castle, even though a little part of him was starting to think that the girl was taking too much time, and suddenly he heard voices that shouldn't be there.

Jace hurried, guiding himself thanks to the voices, and he found the girl still in the water while two young boys were teasing her with her clothes. She threatened the boy in kicking them to the ground, but that only seemed to relish them more than anything, so Jace revealed himself, clearing his throat as he leaned against a tree: "What are you doing here?"

The boys looked at Jace who nonchalantly played his sword, and after a swift glance at his muscles, the boys quickly put the clothes back on the rock and fled away. Jace heaved and walked to the rock to take them and throw them at the girl so she could dress. Then he ostensibly turned his back to give her some privacy and he mumbled:

"This is why we don't bother bathing every two seconds."

"And this is why soldiers always smell like _… sunshin_e," the girl sarcastically retorted, already standing all dressed by his side. Jace glanced at her with a quirking eyebrow due to her remark, and then he saw that she was back on wearing men's clothes. But still, now that she wasn't hiding behind a hood and didn't have a long scarf covering her throat and chest, she seemed more feminine than ever.

Jace's eyes trailed to her whole figure, internally appreciating her curves and the way the fabric was perfectly outlining her body, when she snapped him out of his thoughts by stating matter-of-factly, "And by the way, I could have handled the situation alone, just fine."

"Yes. I saw that." Jace sarcastically replied, making the girl narrow her eyes at him. She was about to retort something when he cut her off by saying that they should go back to the horses, averting his eyes from her. He didn't know why, but_ this _girl always made him feel uneasy, even more so after he learned after her true nature. And now that she was dressed as a sexy she-soldier, she made Jace feel uneasier than ever.

Once they got back to the horses, they both sat on the floor, and the girl started scribbling in the dirt once again. Jace patiently waited to see something come out of her drawings, but nothing appeared to him, until she explained herself.

"Usually, all castles are approximately built the same. At least on the major points. The kitchens are in the basement, the arsenal and court on the ground floor and the living areas on the floors," she said pointing to three different drawings. "The river goes round the castle, so we can't go through the kitchens, they're all closed, except for this little window I saw while swimming." She pointed a little x on the first drawing, and Jace frowned.

"How little?"

"You wouldn't fit. But I would. Then I could-"

"_No_." Jace cut her off, already knowing what she was about to propose. "We'll find another way. I'm not sending you alone in foe territory."

The girl was about to retort something witty when she stopped herself and deeply breathed in, showing the maps she drew and asking, "What do you propose, then?"

"The towers," Jace said, pointing the actual towers with his chin. She turned her head to look at them, and then she disapprovingly frowned.

"You did it when you rescued me from that keep," Jace softly pointed out to give her the assurance to do it again, and the girl shivered before she shook her head, refusing Jace's proposition.

"I had leverage back there. Here, I don't. And Magnus said that you are to stay alive, no matter the cost."

"Magnus is not your General," Jace pointed out with temper, being once again thrown off by Magnus when he wasn't even there to piss him off. The girl didn't even waver, but she still looked deep into his eyes, searching for something before she said:

"But I know that those words are from the King."

"Well, I had orders to bring all his men safe home. So we're going to have a problem here," Jace triumphantly said, ready to pull her loyalty to their King in his favour, but the girl only smiled as she said with a light tone:

"Good thing I don't qualify as such then."

"I'm still not letting you go in there alone with only an arch and a sword to defend yourself." Jace sharply said, and the girl frowned once again. They stayed silent for a moment until something she said tilted in Jace's mind:

"What do you mean you had leverage at the keep?"

She bit her tongue and seemed slightly taken aback, caught of guard in a moment of weakness, and then she said, "To what mercenaries respond best?"

"You didn't have gold on you when you came in that keep."

"I had something more valuable than gold." She said matter-of-factly, and then she got up and said, "We could also try to simply bribe the guards and enter as normal people who want to see the inside of a castle."

Jace stared at the girl, taken aback by the simplicity of this plan, and he nodded,even though his eyes never left the girl. He still couldn't figure her out and her upbringing was a mystery that he wanted to unveil. How could she know so much about the art of War and the subtlety of politics?

"Can you stop looking at me like that?" she suddenly asked, obviously bothered by his intense staring. Jace looked at her a few more moments before he pointed out:

"I was wondering what kind of family would raise their daughter to handle weapons and words like you do."

The girl blinked, as if she was wondering herself that same question, and then she deviously smiled and said, "Who said that it wasn't your training."

"I never trained you to use a dagger as a throat-slicer. Or to use two swords in the same time."

"I must be a natural then. And they weren't swords, they were sabres," she specified and Jace got up, smirking. She used the exact same tone as General Graymark when Jace voluntarily misnamed the weapon. It was as if he had insulted her blade.

_The General Graymark helped Jace get up and Jace felt once again the shame wash down to him. How could it be that he managed to beat the General so many times, but that he couldn't ward off the General special's move, nor copy it._

_Jace took the General's hand, leaving the floor and the General put back in place his sabre under Jace's critical eyes. "Where did you learn to handle that sword."_

_"It's not a sword. It's a sabre. You'd rarely see those on battlefields. They're too light to transpierce an armour. But they're a perfect extension of one's arm."_

_"Is this why I can't fend off this particular move?" Jace inquired with his changing voice of a thirteen years old and looking at his own sword with betrayal._

_"No. You can't beat me because you do not feel when you fight. You only think, and that's why I'll always beat you."_

"Sabres aren't practical. They're too light," Jace said as he drew his own sword from his horse. The girl didn't move, barely shrugged as she said:

"Which gives you a better flexibility. But I'm not going to argue with you. You like swords better, good for you."

"Soldier," Jace said as a unique warning and he launched himself at the girl who rolled on the floor, drawing her sabre and getting up with the flexibly of a cat. Their blades chattered and Jace attacked her with the same mercilessness that General Graymark used on him all those years. With enough strength to force her to her limits, but not enough to kill her.

"You think no one ever caught me off guard?" she asked with a hint of challenge echoing in her voice, and Jace intensified his assault on her. But before he knew it, the girl disarmed him and he found himself on the floor with her on top of him. Jace stayed dumbfounded a brief moment, shocked that she used the General's secret move, but also by the fact that he made her fall with him, that never happened before.

They were both out of breath, and after looking in her defiant green eyes sparkling with the adrenaline of the fight, Jace brought his hand to her face and he kissed her.

.

**~.o.O.o.~**

**.**

**Your thoughts are always welcome, so don't hesitate to share them in a review.**

**Bouhaaaaaaa a kiss! And a glimpse of clarys past? **

**And did you see the nice cover my beta made, it's so nice!**

**And this beta-ed by Arelia Miles), so you should thank her to check for all my grammar mistakes. And she's writing this story: Crossed, and it seems more than promising: **_**Meeting at a cabin in the woods, they were unaware of each other's identity. Both were royals, and both were on the run. Not sure if they'd meet again, they parted ways, only to be brought back together, but under much dire circumstances.**_

**Anyways, Cassandra Clare owns the Mortal Instruments franchise, everything else is mine.**

**Kiss㈍9 Kiss㈍9 Bang㈝9 Bang㈝9.**


	6. Fall

**To all the guest reviewers, thank you for taking the time to review, it really does put a smile on my face. Lots of love to all of you.**

**.**

_Jace was walking to the training room, eager to ask about his first mission as Sergeant, when he heard the King's voice echo from the room. Jace hesitated in walking in, for it seemed that he was having an argument with General Graymark, and he didn't want to be in the middle. So Jace stayed by the door, which was slightly opened, and he leaned against the wall, his eyes lost into space when the King abruptly said:_

_"I do not approve of this."_

_"As my King or as my friend?" the General retorted and Jace couldn't help but also wonder. The King and the General had been friends since birth. Everyone in the kingdom knew that. They grew up together, learned to fight together, they even built families in the same time. The General never gave up an occasion to remind the King that he was just a man, and the King often took advise in the General's words._

_But now, just by the sound of the King's voice, Jace could hear that the argument the two men were having was about something that highly disturbed the King._

_"She's just a girl, Lucian. A little girl of barely six." King Valentine's voice echoed, and Jace could almost see the General take his most sympathetic face as he replied._

_"And she already shows a great potential. I am not asking your permission as my King, I am letting you know as my friend. Magnus already started -"_

_"I know about their little 'games'," the King curtly said with a mix of annoyance and amusement. The two men stayed silent for a few minutes, and Jace thought that it was his cue to finally come in when the General said with a gentleness in his voice that Jace never heard before:_

_"She's the one who actually begged me for it. I can't refuse that to her. I won't." There was a slight silence before the General added, "And I owe it to her mother. She wouldn't have wanted her daughter to be a clueless damsel in distress."_

_"I know. It's just that … She's only six." King Valentine said with a small heave, to which the General responded with a grunt of approval._

_Jace waited a little to see if they were going to continue their conversation, but suddenly, his eyes caught something hidden behind the banisters of the stairs. A pair of green emeralds who blinked and swiftly disappeared when he narrowed his eyes in their direction. Jace pondered on going after the curious eyes, but then the door widely opened, revealing the King who kindly smiled to him._

_The General, however, didn't seem so conciliate as he curtly pointed out: "You're late."_

_Jace was about to mumble an apology when he stopped himself, knowing that the General didn't like excuses. He bowed his head in shame, and the General made him come in the room, saying that they would train on wrestling._

The girl gasped a little before she melted to his kiss and Jace urgently tangled his fingers in her wild hair, feeling his whole body react to her presence. He moved his lips against hers, but when he asked for entrance in her mouth with his tongue, she bluntly sat up, her eyes wide open with shock and her face was as red as her hair.

Jace didn't move, only hiding his face in his hands as he let his head fall back on the floor. What took over him? She wasn't a girl, she was a soldier, he shouldn't even _think_ of her as anything else. And what made it even worst was that -if he read correctly through her mysterious past- the General was going to have Jace's head for touching his little girl.

The girl swiftly got up, obviously still troubled by what just happened between them.

"Don't run off," Jace grunted, passing his hands through his hair, and then he also got up quickly.

The girl was nervously braiding her hair, looking at the floor, her face still red. She looked so vulnerable at this moment, and Jace restrained himself from following his instincts and taking her back in his arms, invoking to his mind the notion of duty and the frightening image of General Graymark.

"We should go," she said with a small voice, picking up her sabre from the floor, and Jace -for the first time of his life- felt like his duty was failing him. He hesitated on talking about what just happened between them, but the girl seemed to make a point to not look at him, and so he armed himself before hiding his weapons behind a long travelling cloak.

Then they walked side by side in an awkward silence, heading to the castle, and once they reached it, the girl seemed to be completely over what happened. She straightened up and wisely placed her hood over her hair, in such a way that half of her face was hidden by the shade of her hood. Jace analysed the guard standing by the door, and he frowned at the few soldiers standing by the gate. But when his eyes drifted to the ramparts where he saw the full strength of the Garroway guard on duty, Jace understood that King Luke was expecting a frontal attack that would last weeks.

As they reached the gate, the girl did everything to not cross any soldier's gaze, but Jace and her surprisingly walked through without anyone stopping them. Once in the court, Jace looked around, spotting every weakness that the castle could have while the girl was walking them to one of the small back doors. But suddenly, someone halted them with a very old and tired voice, "Hey! _You_!"

The girl froze as an old man with magistrate robes was walking to them. Jace could swear that the girl would have changed into a mouse if she had the possibility. She was looking down to the floor, doing her best to disappear. Jace frowned a little and when the man was at their level, he let his eyes travel down the girl before he shook his head, "I'm sorry, I took you for someone else."

The girl waved it off with a shake of her hand before she walked away as quickly as possible, Jace hot on her heels. Jace glanced once again at the old man who was still looking at the girl with curiosity, and then, Jace pointed out the obvious:

"You've already been here."

"I've already been in Idris," The girl corrected in a murmur, and Jace recalled when the King came to Idris in the hope go end his feud with King Luke.

It had been the year of his eighteenth birthday, a year that Jace didn't like very much. Beside the fact that the King left for a month, taking along with him his most trusted General Graymark, it all resulted with them coming back with Prince Sebastian from the Velrac kingdom whom Jace had to train instead of going to war.

_"I want to learn the bow!" Prince Sebastian said, throwing his sword on the floor in a chattering noise._

_Jace looked at the young prince, invoking all the patience he could gather as his face remained unreadable. It had been two weeks that Jace had been assigned as the royal Prince trainer, and the Prince threw a tantrum at him every day that passed by, making Jace wonder what grudge the General was holding against him to assign him as the babysitter of a twelve-year-old instead of sending him to war, where he could actually be of some use as a Lieutenant._

_"The General instructed that you should learn the art of handling a sword, not a bow," Jace tiredly said for the umpteenth time, with as much deference as he could muster. The Prince glared at Jace before he imperially said:_

"_I'm ordering you to teach me the bow. I want to learn the bow!"_

_"We can learn all about the beauty of archery when you will master your sword, my Prince."_

_"I said that I want-" The Prince started, but he was cut off by the General's stern voice:_

_"What you want doesn't matter in this room. Your rank won't help you in a battlefield. In the end, your blood is still red," the General severely said. "You will learn what you are taught. This is why you are here, after all."_

_The Prince seemed to cower a little under the General's austere eyes, and Jace backed away a little to give his superior all the space he needed to put back this arrogant child in his rightful place. But then, the chubby Prince retorted:_

_"I don't need to learn this. I'll be King, I'll have swordsmen all around me."_

_"Are you not intending on defending your kingdom yourself when needed?" the General asked as he raised an inquiring eyebrow, and the Prince straightened up, finally showing the dignity and grace of his rank as he highly said:_

"_I believe that words are useful than swords. And I'm not the only one thinking so."_

_The General knowingly smiled before he said, "No girl in their right mind would marry someone who can't even hold a sword to defend his life. Especially if that said girl is better than the said boy in handling a weapon, no matter how kingly that said boy could be."_

_The Prince pouted a little before he walked to his sword and picked it up from the floor before looking at Jace and taking position to fight as he defiantly said, "I'm still learning the bow."_

Jace glanced at the girl who was slowly and discreetly walking them toward the stairs. She seemed to be too comfortable within these walls. She barely hesitated in the directions to take and she informed Jace with the use of each room they walked by. Before Jace knew it, he and the girl were walking on the floor where they were sure to find the King, and so Jace strongly took her arm to make the girl stop and tell her, "Just to make it clear, if anything goes wrong, you save your skin first. I don't care what Magnus told you about me, you _save your skin_."

The girl swiftly reclaimed her arm, her eyes steady in his, but before she could retort anything witty, Jace added, "And no kill. Especially, no regicide."

The girl nodded and she resumed walking through the corridors of the castle with Jace on her heels as Jace was inspecting every room they encountered, already picturing in his mind ways he could attack this castle with his sixty men. But suddenly, as he turned to talk to the girl, he realised that she had disappeared from his side.

Jace looked around with panic, but before he could even think of a way to call out for her, King Luke and two of his guards walked through the corridor.

Jace stayed in retreat in the shadow of a room, his hand on the handle of his sword as he debated on what he should do.

"Is Hodge _sure_ of what he saw? She never would have been sent alone. Nor with just a man by her side, no matter how dangerous she could be," King Luke said, making Jace frown. If the King Luke was talking about the same girl, it would mean that she was more resourceful than Jace ever thought.

And that's when he saw her, on the window, hanging on the other side and holding on by her arms, looking with panic in the King's direction. Jace swiftly caught her green eyes before she looked back at the King.

Jace could see that her strength was leaving her, and that she'd soon fall of the window, but suddenly, the King turned his head in her direction.

In the blink of an eye, the girl was gone, making Jace miss a breath as he clenched his sword hard. He knew he should reveal himself and carry on with his mission concerning King Luke and peace, but after another second thinking about it, Jace completely retreated himself into the room where he was hiding.

There, he rushed to the window to jump into the moat…

.

**~.o.O.o.~**

**.**

**So, I guess part of the mystery is unveiled. **

**Well, don't hesitate to share your thoughts, it's always nice to read them. ^^**

**And this beta-ed by Arelia Miles), so you should thank her to check for all my grammar mistakes. And she's writing this story: Crossed, and it seems more than promising: **_**Meeting at a cabin in the woods, they were unaware of each other's identity. Both were royals, and both were on the run. Not sure if they'd meet again, they parted ways, only to be brought back together, but under much dire circumstances.**_

**Anyways, Cassandra Clare owns the Mortal Instruments franchise, everything else is mine.**

**Kiss㈍9 Kiss㈍9 Bang㈝9 Bang㈝9.**


	7. Deaths

**So, if you looked properly, the rating may or may not have changed. Don't worry, I put little **** when you can look away and blush.^^**

**And thank you to all the guest reviewers for taking the time to review. Hope you'll like the chapter**

**~.o.O.o.~**

**.**

_Death. Jace never experienced it. Not in any way. He never had someone to care for, someone to grieve after they're gone. He had always been all alone. For the eleven years of his life, Jace never even thought of death and on how it could affect people._

_But now, Death struck upon the King's family, making the King sad all the time. He tried to hide it when he was with Jace, but Jace could still see how affected the King was by the disappearance of someone that he loved deeply. Jace looked at the King's eyes being lost into space, and he looked right before him as he timidly blurted out, "A spaghetti bath."_

_"Pardon me?" the King asked, blinking his eyes in incomprehension, and Jace repeated:_

_"You should take a spaghetti bath. That would take your mind off of … _things_."_

_He didn't know why he said that, but he still felt glad that he did when he saw the King smile a little before he bursted out of laughter. Jace timidly smiled, happy to have managed to make the King smile, and even laugh, and after a few more seconds of glee, King Valentine asked him:_

_"Have you already had one?"_

_"No. Have you?"_

_"I don't think people would like it if I bathed in spaghetti," the King reasonably said, and Jace pointed out:_

"_You're the King. You should be able to indulge yourself with those kind of things once in a while."_

_The King chuckled and gave reason to Jace, gently tapping on the boy's knee._

_Then, another silence fell upon them, and Jace wondered how the King felt inside. How did it feel like to have someone that precious to you taken away? How did it feel to wake up in the morning, knowing that the person wouldn't be there anymore to make you smile? How awful was it to miss another human being?_

_"Does it hurt?" Jace bluntly asked, and the King turned his head to him, this sad expression back in his eyes._

_"To lose someone?" he asked, and Jace nodded, feeling sorry to have reminded the King the pain that he was feeling. The King sadly smiled before he answered, "Yes, it does. It's like being shattered from the inside. And yet, you love the pain. It makes your memories more real."_

_Jace nodded once again, thinking that the King must be too overwhelmed by grief. How could he love being shattered from the inside? If loving someone was making you miserable as soon as this person would die, maybe it wasn't worth it. Maybe loving someone was somehow allowing oneself to be destroyed. And if it was so, Jace didn't want anything to do with it. Whether it was loving a woman, or loving a child he could have._

_"Don't you ever wonder about your parents, Jace?" the King asked out of nowhere, and Jace scowled at this question. He didn't like thinking about the hard reality that he was an orphan that never knew his parents. In the darkness of the night, when he was alone, laying in his bed, Jace even indulged himself in pretending that he only started living a year ago, when the King took him in._

_"What about them?" Jace carefully asked, hoping that the King wouldn't linger on the matter too long._

_"About how things would have been if you had known them?"_

_"No. I'm alright with my life as it is. I don't want to dwell in what ifs. I'm alright with being alone," Jace blankly said, and the King repressed a small heave. They both stayed silent for a long moment before the King resumed the conversation with kindness:_

_"You know you can ask me anything, right?"_

_"I do. But I have nothing more to ask than what you're already giving me," Jace explained, already more than grateful about this second chance the King gave him. Along with this second life._

_"Then why do you still refuse to live at the Palace with me?"_

_"Because …" Jace hesitated, not sure if he could be that straightforward with the King about his insecurities. But then he let himself go and said, "I don't _belong_ there. I am just Jace. I don't even have a last name. I don't belong in a place where people have long names, titles and lives that they don't owe to one's generosity."_

_"So many worries, at such a young age…" King Valentine said with a sad voice before he assured Jace, "You don't owe me anything, Jace. If I took you in, it's because I wanted to. And I never regretted that decision for one second."_

.

**~.o.O.o.~**

.

As his head emerged from the cold water, Jace looked for the red head of the girl, fighting against the powerful flow of the river.

He saw her, feet away from him and struggling to swim against the flow. He swam to her, but when she saw him, the girl paled and stopped struggling, letting her petite body being transported by the flow. Jace did his best to stay at her level, as her face was becoming more and more livid, and when he finally had an hold on her arm, Jace swore that she was refraining herself from crying.

"What are you doing here!?" the girl shouted, trying to cover the stunning noise of the water strongly flowing and wiping a strand of wet hair from her face. Jace didn't even bother responding anything as he saw where the flow was taking them. He told her to swim to the bank, but it was too late, in one powerful wave, they were both thrown off a fall.

Jace did his best to keep his hold on the girl, but she slipped away from him during the fall. Jace fell in the tumultuous waters of the fall, fighting to swim back to the surface, but the violent and deafening water didn't give him any rest, and kept on throwing him back to the bed of the river, endlessly trying to drown him.

And finally, the river let him be, leaving his body float on the surface. Jace swam to the bank, not believing his luck. He survived a fall from a tumultuous fall. As soon as he reached the bank, Jace glanced around, looking for the girl that he found also on the bank, a few feet away from him.

She was on her knees, coughing the water out of her lungs, and Jace carefully got up, looking at the scenery before him. There was a hill ending, and if Jace situated himself properly, that hill belonged to the mountain chain where he left his soldiers. Then Jace looked back at the fall which was still cascading, as if it didn't just try to kill two people, and Jace spotted a small path cutting through the woods going along the river. If he wanted to do a frontal attack, he would use the woods, but if he wanted to sneak on King Luke, Jace would go by the hill.

Then he turned to the girl who was still panting on her knees, shaking out her near-death experience. "Are you alright?" Jace asked with concern, and the girl glared at him, bluntly standing back on her feet as she exploded:

"Why did you jump after me!? You were in the castle! You were supposed to follow your King's orders! _You could have died_! Why didn't you follow your orders!? You're a general! You're supposed to follow orders! _You could have died_! You should have-"

Jace cut her off by yanking her by her arm and clashing his lips on hers. The girl gasped of surprise, and as Jace was realising how wrong what he was doing was, she tangled her fingers his hair. She kissed him back hard and demandingly, opening her mouth to him, and Jace let his urges take the better of him.

******** He urgently laid her on the floor, never breaking their kiss, and without knowing what took over him, Jace found himself stripping her of her wet clothes, kissing and nibbling every inch of skin he could have access to. Before he could even stop himself, Jace was plunging in her and the girl planted her nails hard in his back, hissing of pain. He waited a little before going back and forth and making her pant of pleasure with him. ********

In a last grunt, he collapsed on top of her, his body relieved of any pressure and feeling strangely light. They stayed like that for a few moments before he rolled on the side and took the girl in his arms. None of them said a single word, and after a while, she had fallen asleep on his chest. Jace wasn't long to follow her to slumber, his last thought being that the General Graymark was going to have his head on a plate for what Jace just did to the General's daughter.

.

**~.o.O.o.~**

**.**

**So many things! What just happened? What did Jace just do? He didn't do what I think he did, did he? Mouhahahahahahha, the Devil is back!**

**And for those who wondered why the chapter is called Deaths with a s, it's because the sexual act is also called the little death, do you follow me? I'm sure you do. **

**Well, tell me what you thought of this chapter, make my day, wether you liked it or not, because I love reading your opinions.**

**And this beta-ed by Arelia Miles), so you should thank her to check for all my grammar mistakes. And she's writing this story: Crossed, and it seems more than promising: **_**Meeting at a cabin in the woods, they were unaware of each other's identity. Both were royals, and both were on the run. Not sure if they'd meet again, they parted ways, only to be brought back together, but under much dire circumstances.**_

**Anyways, Cassandra Clare owns the Mortal Instruments franchise, everything else is mine.**

**Kiss㈍9 Kiss㈍9 Bang㈝9 Bang㈝9.**


	8. Confession

**So, many of you were concerned about a pregnancy, and my first thought was '_What_?' I know unprotected sex might lead to pregnancy, but it's MIGHT. Otherwise, we would be a trizillion (I know, it's not a number) on this planet. Plus contraception exits since the Cave Age, so yeah, I just wanted to clear that up.**

**But still, thanks for all of those who reviewed, followed or favourited this story.**

**.**

Jace woke up because of the neigh of a horse. He bluntly opened his eyes, reaching for his sword, and the first thing that he saw was that it was dawn. He didn't have to turn his head to know that the girl wasn't laying next to him, and he even frowned as he realised that there was a blanket on him. Jace slowly sat up and glanced around, but the girl was nowhere to be seen. Instead, there was his horse clattering a few feet away from him.

Jace passed his hands in his hair and grunted before getting up and properly putting back on his clothes. Then he looked around, searching for the girl, but she wasn't there, and neither was her horse. He sat on the floor and leaned his elbows on his knees, taking his head in his hands as he let the realisation of what he did crush down to him.

He didn't force himself unto the girl per-say, but he still didn't even ask her anything first. He just took from her, stealing away her first time and turning it into something quick and bestial. Jace knew that a part of her wanted what happened to happen. After all, she kissed him back, she moaned under his touch and she scratched his back with desire. But still, it had been her first time, and Jace couldn't help but feel like he had disowned her of what should have been something sweet and tender.

He stayed sitting on the floor and feeling guilt wash over him as the sun rose high in the sky, and suddenly, Jace heard horse hooves. But without being able to tell how, he knew that it wasn't the girl. He raised his head and saw his lieutenant who was looking at him with relief. Alexander got down of his horse and squatted to Jace as he informed him in a very worried voice:

"The mute came back to camp in the middle of the night and told me where I would find you. She was dripping wet and she seemed terrified. What happened?"

Jace closed his eyes, tightening his jaw as he resumed his previous position, pondering if he could tell his brother in arm of his dismay. And as he was letting the shame take over him, he realised that it wasn't the act in itself that ashamed it, but the way he did it. He took from her, without ever asking, and even though she seemed to have enjoyed it, she still ended up terrified and fleeing from him.

"I slept with her." Jace said in a very low voice, strained with shame. "I did the very thing I didn't want my soldiers to do."

Alexander didn't say anything, but Jace could tell that he tensed at the moment he heard what Jace said. Jace rose his head, and saw that his lieutenant had considerably paled as he asked with a very concerned voice: "What do you mean you slept with the mute?"

"I mean what I mean." Jace angrily replied, and Alexander bluntly got up, as if he wanted to forget what Jace just told him. Then he passed a very tired hand on his face, his blue eyes lost into space, and Jace slowly got up to pack up his horse.

"You can't let anyone know about that, General." Alexander said with a very military tone that hurt Jace. It was more than the fact that his lieutenant was reminding him of his duty, it was also the fact that Alexander had always been his only friend. The only person of approximatively his age with whom he would joke around when he was young. And now, Alexander was clearly telling him that he did not approve his actions. Wether it was as his lieutenant, or as his friend.

"_Especially_ not Magnus." Alexander insisted, and Jace hopped on his horse as words slipped away from him:

"What about her?"

"I don't know. With all due respect, you shouldn't have done it." Alexander repeated once again, getting on his horse also, and Jace let anger take the better of him as he curtly replied:

"I know that!"

.

**~.o.O.o.~**

.

"_Why don't you just take the offer?" Alec asked, clearly not understanding Jace's umpteenth refusal to the King. On his seventeenth birthday, the King proposed Jace to come live at the Palace, like he did every year, and Jace refused, like he did every year._

_"Because I don't _belong_ there. And I can't take more than I already am from the King." Jace placidly said, picking an apple from the tree he and Alec were hanging in. Alec sighed and retorted:_

_"The King loves you like his son. Everyone in court knows that. Everyone in the _kingdom_ knows that. Everyone but you. I'm sure you could ask for the crown, and he'd give it to you."_

_Alec chuckled to his own joke, and Jace smirked, rolling his eyes. Jace never denied the fact that he tried to steal the crown to anyone. He didn't like talking about this period of his life, and he knew that people usually avoided to ask about his past when they knew 'how far' he had gone before the King showed him the right way._

_"You know, the girls are a lot nicer at the Palace." Alec said with wiggling eyebrows. "Maybe you could even find one with whom to build a fam_"_

_"Don't say that word." Jace cut him off, jumping down the tree._

_Family was a scary word to Jace. He knew that he was supposed to start thinking about it. That he was supposed to look for a wife and a nice house to settle in, but it scared him. It scared him to get involved in a family when he never had a model to rely on. Sure he had the King who gladly gave him all the fatherly love he could have asked for, but -because Jace always refused to move in with the King in the Palace- Jace didn't know what it was like to have a _real_ family. One with a father and mother, deeply loving their children. And that was mostly why he was so eager to go in the ranks._

_Alec jumped after Jace and told him: "I don't think the King will let you enrol for a lifetime, Wayland. I think he wants you by his side. Or he never would have taught you so much about the subtleties of politics." Then he friendly tapped on Jace's shoulder as he added: "I'm sorry to tell you that, but sooner or later, you will live in that Palace."_

.

**~.o.O.o.~**

.

"We will cut through the woods before taking the side of the mountain. There's a loop in the Garroway defence system, and we will take advantage of it. In a week, we will be at their gates!" Jace strongly said to his troops from his horse, and his soldiers cheered to his words before they started walking to the woods.

Jace had come back with Alexander shortly before twilight, and the two of them spent the night together, planning the best route to go to King Luke's summer castle. Jace didn't ask a single time about the girl ever since he came back to camp, and actually He didn't even saw a glimpse of her. He saw Magnus and few of the King's men eating outside, but the girl apparently stayed shut away in the tent she shared with Magnus.

As the soldiers were slowly clearing the camp they made, Jace finally saw the girl. She was marching next to Magnus, her head down, looking again like that small mute soldier she was when they left their kingdom. Jace pondered for a second on what he should do before he instructed his lieutenant, his eyes never leaving the girl as he got down his horse: "Lead the way. I have something to take care off."

"_General_." Alexander said, his blue eyes following Jace's gaze, and Jace snapped at his warning tone:

"That's an order, _Lieutenant_."

Alec hesitated in showing rebellion before he heaved and lead his horse toward the head of the marching soldiers. Jace let his men walk until the division of the girl walked by. He tried to catch her eyes, but she stubbornly kept her head bent. He swallowed his frustration and made sure that there was no trace of their camp before he turned to hop back on his horse.

But instead of doing so, he stood frozen as the girl was staring at him with her green emeralds. They looked at each other for a while before she gently removed the scarf covering her face and said: "Magnus said I should … tell you something…"

She seemed so fragile at this right moment that Jace didn't know how he managed to stay still and not take her in his arms. He waited for her to go on, but it seemed that she was having an internal struggle between the part of her that wanted to listen to Magnus, and the part of her who wanted to follow her instincts.

Jace took a step toward her and she snapped her head up, looking straight into his golden eyes with curiosity, and making Jace come clean to her: "I didn't plan for it to happen."

The girl blinked, but didn't utter a single word, and so Jace took another step toward her, glancing quickly above her head to make sure that they were alone.

"And I'm sorry for … not taking my time."

The girl looked down and blushed a little, which made a small smile grow on Jace's lips. But that smile quickly faded away as her brows slightly frowned. Jace waited for her to tell him what was bothering her, but she stayed awfully silent.

"Please say something." He pleaded, not baring her silent anymore, and so she softly said, her eyes locked on the ground:

"You have nothing to apologise for. If I didn't want it, it wouldn't have happened. You were right, women shouldn't be on battlefields."

"Yet, here you are." Jace pointed out, not liking her resigned tone. It was as if that fire that Jace saw burning within her, was fading away. The girl snapped her head up, her eyes sparkling with determination as she repeated:

"Yet, here I am. With a mission. Like you. And we should make sure that this mission is_"

"I was concerned about your life." Jace cut her off, finally admitting to her and to himself why he jumped after her in that fall. The girl blinked a little, taken aback by the fact that he made a little step toward her.

"Pardon me?"

"That's why I jumped after you. That's why I didn't fulfil the mission. Because I had to make sure that you were okay." Jace confessed, taking another step toward her, and the girl blushed, her eyelashes fluttering like butterflies wings.

"Because there's always a part of my mind wondering about you, even though I still don't know your name." Jace continued, closing the final gap distancing them. The girl tilted a little her head so she could still look at him in the eyes, and Jace gently caressed her delicate face as he went on:

"Because what happened the other day wasn't just the adrenaline rush of almost dying. It was something that I wanted to do."

And with those words, Jace cupped her face and leaned forward to kiss her lips while she was looking for her words to dissuade him to do so. But he still kissed her, with gentleness and delicacy, feeling a sparkle light up in him. The girl slightly opened her mouth to him before she bluntly stepped back, bringing her hands around her small body.

"This is why you never should have known about me." She said in an angry murmur. "Because you let your urges take the better of your reason. You should go back to the head of your soldiers. _Nothing ever happened_. You know as well as I do, that it was a mis_"

"It _wasn't_." Jace strongly cut her off. "You can call it whatever you want, but it wasn't a mistake."

"It _was_, or you wouldn't feel guilty about it." She heatedly replied, even though she kept on refusing to look at him in the eyes. Jace lifted her chin and assured her:

"I don't feel guilty about anything. I am just confused on why you left like a thief in the night."

She tried to look away, but Jace didn't let her as he insisted: "_Why_?"

"Because I was scared." She blurted out, apparently the first one surprised by her outburst. Then she stepped back a little, shaking in her arms wrapped around her. "This wasn't planned. It wasn't supposed to happen. This is the first time of my life that I let my emo_ that I don't follow my reason. I _always_ followed my reason, and this whole thing is really _frightening_."

"Well, let me take this fright away." Jace softly said, kissing her and colliding his body to hers. But before any of them could express anything more, a third voice echoed behind them, making the girl jump out of Jace's arms.

"_General_!"

.

**~.o.O.o.~**

**.**

**I just love cliffies, and I know you hate me for it. Just mouhahahahahahha. The Devil is back.**

**So? What did you think? Don't forget to tell, it's always encouraging ^^**

**And this un-beta-ed. It's just that I know I won't have the possibility to update during the week, and I wanted the chapter to be out for you. That doesn't mean that you shouldn't check Arelia Miles' story, Crossed. **

**Anyways, Cassandra Clare owns the Mortal Instruments franchise, everything else is mine.**

**Kiss㈍9 Kiss㈍9 Bang㈝9 Bang㈝9.**


	9. Breaking the Rules

**So, I'm updating, without beta because life, and well, i hope you'll like this chapter. Don't forget that the little *** are here for a reason.**

**But still, thanks for all of those who reviewed, followed or favourited this story.**

**.**

_The General Graymark and Jace were discussing about Jace's next mission as they were training with sabres, Jace's least favourite weapons. Many times, the General tried to get Jace to, at least, enjoy handling this special sword, but Jace really did not like the way the sabre felt too light in his hand. He felt like it would crash in contact with another blade._

_Suddenly, the door swiftly opened and Maxence, Alexander's little brother walked in before rushing to the General, panic written on his face. Maxence was the same age as Jace, but unlike Jace, Maxence was still a simple soldier, like his brother. The man with blue eyes and dark hair whispered something in the General's ear which made General Graymark considerably pale with worry._

_"What do you mean, _you lost her_!?" The General angrily shouted, and Jace watched Maxence cower away as he clumsily explained:_

_"She can be very sneaky, you know."_

_"That's why you were assigned on looking after her! Why do you think I cut myself off of a soldier?! Just for the fun of it?!" The General snarled back, apparently extremely infuriated by the news Maxence just gave him._

_"I'm not a babysitter." Maxence mumbled under his breath, more to himself than to anyone. But unfortunately for him, the General heard him._

_"You are what I tell you to be! How hard can it be to look after a little girl!? She's barely twelve for God's sake!"_

_"Well, you did teach her many things that normal twelve years old don't know."_

_"And you're supposed to be able to ward off her moves! Are you a soldier or an idiot?!" General Graymark yelled back at Maxence, his eyes popping out of their orbits before he turned to Jace and told him: "We will continue this conversation later. I have something to take care off."_

_Jace nodded as the General left, quickly followed by Maxence, and then Jace walked to the arsenal to put his training sabre back in place. Without knowing why, he looked up, and there he saw a little girl with long braided ebony hair and green eyes. She was sitting on a joist maintaining the ceiling, perfectly balanced at such a height, and her legs kicking in the air. Jace narrowed his eyes, wondering if she was the girl the General and Maxence were just talking about, and then she smirked at him before she slowly put her forefinger on her lips to ask him his silence, while her eyes were sparkling with amusement._

_Jace looked down for a moment, pondering if he should give her what she wanted, but when he looked up, ready to give her five minutes, she was already gone. Jace smirked to himself and left the room himself._

.

**~.o.O.o.~ (Yes I wrote properly ebony hair. Hair dye exist since forever, remember.)**

.

Jace stared at the ceiling of his tent, trying to reason himself and not go straight to Magnus's and the girl's tent to clarify this situation they were all in. Jace didn't know what Magnus told the girl after he surprised them kissing and swiftly dismissed Jace, but he knew that she had been crying. He could tell at the glimpse of her eyes that he saw when Magnus and her joined back the march.

When they established camp, Magnus and Jace had a very heated -yet hushed- argument in which Magnus clearly told Jace to stay away from the girl.

_"I know what you did to her. She might not want to say it, but I can read between the lines. So, I'll only tell you once: you stay away from her. If not for your wellbeing, at least for hers!" Magnus angrily spat at Jace through his gritted teeth as the two of them were standing rather remotely far from camp. Jace stared at Magnus before glancing back to the camp at the exact spot where he knew the girl was, and he calmly said to Magnus:_

_"What happened between her and I, is none of your concern. It's only between her and I."_

_Magnus narrowed his eyes at that response, and after a few second of silence, he victoriously asked: "Would you have acted so lightly if the King, or the General had been around? She is not yours to take. You did the unthinkable_"_

_"I never mistreated her in any way!" Jace promptly cut Magnus off, not liking where this conversation was going. Jace could be accused of many things, but what Magnus was implying wasn't one of them._

_"Didn't you?" Magnus snarled with disdain mixed with anger. "So why did she cry on my shoulder all night long?"_

_Jace didn't reply anything to that, feeling himself pale as Magnus's words echoed in his mind. He made her cry. He made her flee, _and_ cry. Did he actually do anything right with her?_

_"I told you to treat her like any _male_ soldier. But you didn't listen. I won't let you destroy her because you're missing the touch of a woman." Magnus informed him with temper, as Jace was still dumbfounded by his previous words. "She's too important for me. She's all I have left."_

And now Jace was desperately trying to understand why he was obsessing so much over this girl. Was it because he hadn't been with a woman in months, or because of something else? What was so special about her that she always made him forget about his duty toward his King and country, and always put her first?

Suddenly, someone snuck into his tent, making him sit straight back up. Jace watched the girl as she stood by the entrance of his tent, and for a few long seconds, none of them said anything. Then, she slowly walked to his bed and she removed her scarf as she said with a really small voice: "I do want you to take the fright away."

Jace hesitated for the blink of an eye, wondering if she was really worth fighting over with Magnus. But Jace swiftly dismissed the thought and stood to cup her face to kiss the girl, slowly removing her hood. The girl timidly gripped his camisole to bring him closer to her, and Jace made their bodies collide as he gently passed his hands in her hair to undo her braided bun and let her hair wild like he liked it.

Then Jace took off her weapons, one by one, never stopping kissing her. He kissed her lips, her jawline, her neck, her cheeks where he felt her blush under his lips; before he kissed again her lips, opening her mouth slightly with his tongue to make them share a passionate and long kiss. Jace's hands flew all over her body, looking for her skin that he knew soft.

The girl pressed herself even more against Jace, moaning against his lips, and Jace took it as his cue to lay her in his bed. She didn't try to stop him, but once she was completely laying in the bed, Jace felt her stiffen under his fingers. He stopped kissing her and upped himself so he could deeply look in her eyes as he vouched: "I won't hurt you. I promise."

He knew that she was probably thinking of the hurt she felt on the riverbank, but Jace was going to make sure that she would feel nothing but bliss this time. That she would have the first time she was entitled to.

"I know." The girl said with seriousness. "I trust you, Jace. With more than my life." She confessed and Jace noted that it was the first time that she was calling him by his first name. No one ever called him by his first name, no one but the King.

Shortly after he turned eleven, the King gave him a last name. He proposed him his first, but Jace had refused saying that it wasn't his place to wear that name. And so the King gave a last name that Jace adopted as his only name. He didn't like people calling him Jace because it was creating an intimacy that he didn't want to entertain. He didn't mind with the King, because the King knew everything there was to know about him. But other people would always call him Wayland.

But with the girl, Wayland seemed foreign. Jace loved the way his name rolled on her tongue. He resumed kissing her as his fingers gently fumbled on the bandages covering her chest, and once the bandages were completely off, Jace let his lips wander to her collarbone, feeling himself throb at the feeling of her chest.

The girl timidly tucked on the hem of his camisole, and Jace sat up to pass it through his head. The girl also sat and gently let her fingers fly on Jace's torso, outlining the sparse scars he had here and there. Jace didn't move a single muscle, staring at the girl as her eyes were wandering all over his chest. After an umpteenth caress, the girl lifted her head up to look into Jace's golden eyes, and he smiled to her before he leaned in to kiss her. Jace laid her back on the bed, making her gasp a little of surprise.

"What's your name?" He asked in a hoarse whisper, longing to whisper her name in her ear, but when he sensed her tense under his fingers, Jace heaved and rolled on the side. How could she say that she trusted him with more than her life if she wouldn't even tell him her name? _Just her name_, he wasn't asking for much.

The girl bluntly sat up and Jace looked at her in the eyes, passing a hand in his hair, and the girl whispered with a shaky voice: "It's not what you think. It's just that I don't like my name. It's really popular, and I feel like lost among others when people say it. I don't want to feel like that when … I'm with you." She added with a small voice and Jace also sat up to remove the strands of hair falling on her face.

Once her face was completely clear, he lifted her chin up and asked her: "How old are you?"

"16." She replied after a little hesitation, and Jace kept his face unreadable as he downed this information.

How could she be so young, and yet so aware and wise. Was he that brave at sixteen? Jace knew that he would have been ready to die for his King at this age, but would he have gone to another country to die for his kingdom? Would he have risked everyday the probability to be sentenced to death by his brothers in arms for breaking the law? And would he have been so conscious of the subtleties and games of politics?

"Do you regret what happened yesterday?" Jace questioned, staring straight in her green eyes to be sure of the truth of her words. She seemed to think a little about it but then she honestly answered:

"I don't know. My reason does. My body doesn't. My heart …" She slightly blushed before she looked down and shook her head as she murmured: "I don't know."

"I don't." Jace told her, lifting her chin back up so she could see his face. "Even out of duty, I don't. Because, somehow, you feel just right being here next to me." Jace truthfully said, and he prayed that she didn't hear his heart beat at a lightening speed.

The girl blushed even more, and Jace gently pushed her back on the bed to hover over her once again and he murmured with lust, but care: "Let me show you how right this is."

Jace kissed her on the lips, imprisoning her lower lips between his teeth, and caressing her breasts with his hands. The girl arched herself to him when he started playing with her nipples, and when Jace felt them harden between his fingers, he trailed his kisses to her breasts to take them in his mouth, making her suck in air.

Jace slowly let his fingers trace her stomach, all the way down to the waistband of her trousers, and then in one swift motion, he removed them and endlessly caressed her thighs. He could feel her body temperature rise under his touch, and so, Jace gently started kissing his way down. He could hear her as she was doing her best to keep her breath steady and calm, but as he planted a penultimate kiss on her lower stomach -ready to go further down- the girl bluntly sat up as she exclaimed in a confused whisper:

"_What are you doing_!?"

"Just let it come to you." Jace reassured her, laying her back on the bed and finding his way back to her sweet core.

***** **He waited for the girl to relax again under his touch before playing with his tongue and her clit, making her lowly moan of pleasure. As he felt her tension built up, Jace slowly trailed his fingers to her core, and when he slipped one in her, her hands flew in their own accord to his hair. One by one, he added two other fingers, only encouraged by the girl tightening her grip on him each time. And the more she was clutching his hair, the more ardently he played with her until she whimpered between two pants:

"Jace, I don't feel good. I need … _something_."

Jace smiled to her naivety and innocence, and slowly kissed his way back up, as he kept playing with her and his fibgefs. When he sucked on her collarbone, she moaned in a whisper and she worriedly added: "Jace, I think I'm going to die!"

Jace caressed her face with his free hand and he smiled to her as he reassured her: "Don't worry. Just let it come to you. Don't fight it."

Then he leaned in to kiss her, all the while removing his too cumbrous trousers. With gentleness, he placed himself in her entrance before entering in her in one swift motion. She gasped of surprise, opening her eyes widely and wrapping automatically her legs around his waist. Jace started going back and forth, establishing a slow pace, but she begged him otherwise:

"Jace, I need … _more_."

And so he gladly complied, going faster and harder as the girl was biting her lips to keep the noise in. Jace captured her lips in his to share another passionate kiss with her, and this time, when she replied, the girl was anything but timid. She followed her instincts and kissed Jace with as much ardor as he was.

Before he even knew it, Jace felt his peak coming, enhanced by the girl unconsciously clenching his manhood with her inner walls. He leaned to her ear and asked her in a hoarse whisper: "Are you dying yet?"

The girl shook her head and lowly whimpered: "I'm … it's … Jace … I …" Jace stopped her stuttering by kissing her before he increased even more his pace, making her plant her nails in his back. And finally, he felt her overwhelm him, watering his member with the juices of her orgasm. In one last thrust, Jace finished in her, and after he kept on moving a little, he collapsed next to her in a low grunt. ***** **

As soon as his back reached the bed, Jace took the girl back in his arms and enveloped her with his strong body. They both stayed silent for a while, and at some point, Jace heard the breathing of the girl soften, indicating him that she was falling asleep. He pecked her forehead, which made her snuggle against him, and she said in a very sleepy voice: "Thank you, Jace. For taking the fright away in such a wonderful way."

Jace didn't reply anything and let her fall to the sleep she seemed desperate to go to. Instead, he longly looked at her body, thinking that she was way too frail. It almost seemed that she only had her skin on her bones. And yet, on more than one occasion, Jace sensed how strong she could get. For that matter, if he looked with attention to her arms, he could distinguish thin, but firm, muscles that proved years and years of training.

It took him more time than her to fall asleep and even when he did so, Jace barely slept this night. But still, the little sleep he had, had been enough for him. Once he was fully awake, Jace tried to feel shame or guilt rise within him, but it never came. He knew he should have never done what he did, but there was still a part of him that felt like it was only normal and natural.

As soon as the moon disappeared in the horizon, the girl bluntly woke up, and after they shared a long and meaningful look, she left the bed and dressed up. Jace averted his eyes away for it seemed that she was feeling uncomfortable under his gaze. But he still helped her wrap herself in her bandages, pecking her neck while she was blushing like a tomato. Once she was fully dressed, she walked to the exit of the tent, and Jace swiftly got up to catch up with her in order to cup her face with care and delicacy. She gently smiled and tiptoed herself to kiss him, and he gave her back her kiss with the same softness she used.

"Are you coming back, tonight?" Jace asked her with the slight concern that she might say no. She looked deeply into his golden orbs as he gently caressed her left cheek, repressing himself from kissing her again.

"I just might do that." The girl assured with a playful smile before she put back her scarf on. Jace smiled back and pecked her lips through the fabric before letting her go to the anonymity she had as the small mute soldier.

.

**~.o.O.o.~**

**.**

**THE END. Just kidding. I could stop it here, but nope. So what do you think of that, let me all know, and if you're many to ask, I shall try to update really soon.**

**and what did you think of the girl's reaction to lemon? I think it was cute, even though it was really long to write (I don't really like writing first times :S)**

**Anyways, Cassandra Clare owns the Mortal Instruments franchise, everything else is mine.**

**Kiss㈍9 Kiss㈍9 Bang㈝9 Bang㈝9.**


	10. The Point of no Return

**So, many of you asked about Jace's age****. To place it properly to you, remember that when they were in the inn, Jace told the girl that he was 26, expecting her to tell him her age at this moment, but she completely blew him off for jesters. Anyway, hope that everything is cleared for you, now, and here is the longest chapter I wrote yet on this story.**

**.**

Jace walked among his men, making sure that they were all alright with a slight nod every once in a while. It was their second day of march, and even though he was leading his men with his head high, Jace still didn't know what he should do about King Luke. He considered asking for advice from Alexander or Magnus, but he already knew what they would each tell him. Alexander would think exactly like him, from a military point of view, and Magnus would have an idea too political to require the use of his army. So Jace kept on marching, hoping that an idea would suddenly pop into his mind.

After doing a round through his troops, Jace sat as nothing among one of the small groups and joined in their convention as a passive watcher.

"I heard that the girls from the Garroway kingdom are a lot nicer," Simon said as a bottle of liquor was being passed from hand to hand.

Jace knew that the tension in his troops was growing. It had been five months since they left the Morgentsern kingdom, leaving behind wives or lovers. And he couldn't blame his men. Five months was a long period. _Especially_ far away from the arms of a woman. Jace repressed a shiver at the improbable possibility that the girl's true nature was discovered by his men. But then he reassured himself, thinking that his men would never do the unthinkable.

Even though Jace had always been open toward his soldiers and their personal problems when they were at the kingdom, he always held them with an iron grip as soon as they would go to battle. He already sentenced to death one of his soldiers because he tried to pillage the town of a country they just conquered. Jace cut off his head, not even thinking twice about it.

When they were at war, Jace expected his men to have an irreproachable conduct. They were not to pillage anything, they were not to rape any girl (even though Jace closed his eyes to the solicitation of prostitutes), and they were not to be drunk once they entered the foe territory. Which was why Jace informed his soldiers of their arrival at the Garroway kingdom. Tonight was their last night when they could drink even a single drop of alcohol.

"General?" Jordan said, startling Jace out of his thoughts as he gave him the bottle of alcohol. "The last drop of life before entering the Garroway kingdom?"

Jace shook his head, wanting to keep his head clear, and so Jordan passed the bottle to Simon who was sitting at Jace's right.

"We were actually betting on Kaelie's baby. What do you think it is?" Mark asked to Jace, and Jace let himself fall into the memory of Kaelie.

_"You have a new scar," Kaelie softly murmured, tracing on Jace's back, the fresh wound of an arrow that had been shot at him._

_Kaelie was the girl Jace always went to see when he was going to battles or when he was coming back. She was nothing more than a way for him to release pressure, and always been in accord with this arrangement between them. She never asked from Jace anything, even though she did tell him a little about herself. Not enough for them to be in a so called relationship, but enough to make Jace genuinely care about her wellbeing._

_He never gave her money or kept her, but he always made sure that her life wasn't too hard for her. Which more than once became a problem because of Meliorn._

"_That's what war does to people, Kaelie. It leaves scars on them," Jace said with a slight shrug as he put his shirt back on. Kaelie always pointed out his new scars when he'd come back from war, always with that same sad tone that made Jace feel like he was some precious and fragile thing._

_"I know," Kaelie whispered with a hint of hurt, making Jace feel slightly guilty to be so inconsiderate toward her. He knew that women suffered the consequences of war as much as men, if not more. The luckiest ones only had to bear the death of a husband, a brother or a son. But for the unfortunates ones who where in the country taken over, they had to suffer rapes along the brutality and inconsideration of drunken soldiers._

_Jace knew that Kaelie's father died at war when she was still young, leaving her with her sick mother and her sister. And Kaelie's mother never recovered from her husband's death. She died a few months later, leading Kaelie to take care of her nine years old sister when she was barely twelve. She worked at the tavern first, but she quickly stopped once she realised what was to be expected of her when she would grow up._

_In the end, she found a little bit of work to do in the kitchens of the barracks, and this was how Jace and her met, a few days after he came back from his first bloody battle. He was seventeen and she was fifteen, and ever since, they kept this little arrangement between them. Every time Kaelie would tell him that she was seeing someone, Jace would back away, but she never stayed long with them._

_"Meliorn asked for my hand in marriage," Kaelie suddenly said, her chin on her knees as she carefully studied Jace's features. But Jace didn't let any of his thoughts show on his face. Both of them knew that he would have never proposed to her, settlement wasn't something he was looking for._

_But the thing was, Jace didn't like Meliorn. He thought that Kaelie deserved better than him. Especially since Meliorn had quite of a temper and that more than once Jace saw on Kaelie bruises that shouldn't have been there._

_Jace knew that Kaelie was a really clumsy girl, more than once she tripped on her own feet when they were walking side by side, making Jace laugh at her lack of coordination. So he knew that she always had bruises on her. But one day, he spotted bruises on her skin which had nothing to do with clumsiness. And when he confronted her about it, Kaelie refused to tell him where she got them. It took Jace several weeks to rip the truth out of her. But she made him swear to not intervene in any way._

_So Jace had stayed in retreat, but when he had seen new bruises on her a few months later, he had made sure to accompany Kaelie back to her house one night, when every one could see him. From the corner of his eye, he had spotted a guy with long raven hair and an angelic face taking him in, and he had known it was Meliorn. The two men had shared a very long look in which Jace clearly told Meliorn that there wouldn't be a next time._

"_I think, I'll say yes," Kaelie continued as she played with her fingernails. " I like you and all, but I want a family. I want little boys to run everywhere in my skirts and grow up to be brave men like you. And I'm starting to get old, too. I'm twenty and I still don't have a household. All of my friend already have children and husbands since at least a couple of years. And, he also promised to pay for Seelie's tuition next year."_

_Jace carefully listened to Kaelie's speech, and he frowned when he didn't hear the word that was supposed to create a household. But he didn't say anything about it because he knew that, too often, it was something optional._

_"What do you think?" She asked him, planting her electric blue eyes in his golden knees, and Jace finally allowed himself to be a real friend to Kaelie._

_"Do you think it will last? Do you think Meliorn is _worth_ being with you?"_

"_I like him, a lot. And he changed, Wayland. He really did, but I'm scared that he'll relapse. And I'm scared for Seelie. What if he gets angry at her? What if he suddenly decides that he won't pay for her school anymore?"_

_"Don't do it for your sister. If you marry someone, you should do it for you. Because of what you want. If you're worried about Seelie, I'll help you with her. Just do what will make you happy," he said as he got up, silently indicating to Kaelie that he was leaving. She slightly lifted her head up with a small smile before she mouthed to him:_

_"Thank you."_

_Jace waved off her thankfulness before he gathered his stuff and left Kaelie's house, planting a kiss on her forehead as a final goodbye. Then he walked to the tavern, where he found Meliorn exactly where he was expecting him to be, drinking at the counter. Jace walked to the slim man and tapped on his shoulder to get his attention._

"_What do you-" Meliorn moodily started, turning on his stroller before he recognised Jace and paled. "Oh, it's you."_

_"I heard that you want to get married," Jace said without any other form of greeting, and Meliorn paled even more. Jace knew that there was this rumour in town saying that Kaelie and him were a thing, even though it had never been true. The rumour was so important that even the King had heard about it and had asked Jace if he intended to marry Kaelie on more than one occasion. But Jace always assured his monarch that such a thing could never happen. Whether it was from him, or from Kaelie._

_"I don't want any trouble with you, Wayland," Meliorn warily said as he straightened up in his stroller. "If you want Kaelie, I'll take back my word."_

_Jace shook his head, a benevolent smile on his face. "I came here to give you my blessing. As well as my wedding gift to Kaelie."_

_"She's not here," Meliorn pointed out, anxiety swelling in his voice. Jace wickedly smirked as he said:_

"_I know. My gift is _through_ you. If I ever see you in this tavern again, even once, I'll make sure that you'll never walk again. And if you lay an inappropriate finger on Kaelie or her sister again, I'll make sure that your head will be detached from your body, in a public place. Understood?"_

_Jace never threatened people by using his relationship with the King, even though everyone knew how close he was to their monarch, but this time, he wanted to make sure that his threat was the most effective one possible. He didn't want to let Meliorn think that he had any chance of slipping up even once._

_Meliorn nodded, fear clear in his eyes, and Jace continued, "You will treat Kaelie properly, like the wife she wants to be, not the one you want. You will not abuse her, physically or emotionally. You will do her right and not go elsewhere. And you will take care of your children with the decency any father should. Am I making myself clear?"_

_Meliorn frantically nodded again, and Jace smirked of satisfaction. "Good. All my best for your marriage, then."_

And now, Kaelie was showing a prominent stomach when Jace left the Kingdom, after three years of perfect marriage with Meliorn. Kaelie and Jace still talked from time to time at the barracks, and Jace always made sure to pass near her house every in a while, just so Meliorn knew that Jace didn't forget about Kaelie and the bruises Meliorn once inflicted her.

Of course, as he was speaking with his soldiers, Jace didn't have a doubt that Kaelie's baby was already born, and so he told his men, "She wanted a boy, but she's persuaded that it's a girl. So I'll follow those motherly instincts, and say that it's a girl."

A few men snickered, and Jace let a small smile play on his lips as Magnus and the girl joined the group, coming out of the darkness of the woods. When he did his round, Jace noticed that the two of them were missing, but they rarely mingled with the troops, always staying in their tents, and so Jace figured that it was again the case.

Magnus sat next to Jordan, not without glaring a little at Jace, and the girl sat next to Magnus, hiding something against her chest. Once she was on the ground, she opened her arms and let feathers fall down on her knees. Then she looked through her arrows and retrieved some of them that she silently sharpened before she checked their feathers.

"Do you want some, kiddo?" Simon asked to the girl, holding the bottle of liquor to her. She opened wide eyes of shock, staring at the bottle, before she shook her head of refusal. Simon chuckled a little before he insisted, "It's what makes a man, a man. Who knows? Maybe it'll untie that tongue of yours."

"His tongue was cut out when he was still a child. There's nothing left to untie," Magnus bluntly said, coming to her rescue as he took the bottle and took a long sip from it. Jace realised something simple at that moment, he never saw her drink or eat. For the simple reason that she couldn't remove her scarf in public. Which was probably the reason why she was so skinny.

"Oh. Sorry," Simon apologised with a grimace of discomfort. The girl shrugged to wave it off, still concentrated on her arrows, and Simon smirked as he asked, "So, how do you do with ladies? Have you even been with one?"

Jace could swear that the girl just smirked, and then she showed her hands, making her delicate fingers rapidly play, the ones from her left hand in small bandages to prevent her from hurting herself with her bow. The men grievously laughed and Jace caught Magnus rolling his eyes at her.

"Girls dig agile fingers. Especially when those fingers know what to do," Simon pointed out before he turned his head to Magnus and asked, "How are girls in your country, Magnus?"

"Too advanced for you to handle, Simon. They know how to do things with their bodies that would make you faint before you could even picture yourself touching them."

"Maybe I should travel there, then," Simon replied with a smirk, and many men cheered of approval. And even though they were only slightly joking around, Jace knew that his men were desperate for some action. This trip was the longest they had ever had. They already went to battle for six months, but this was a back and forth period. Though the travel from the Morgenstern to the Garroway kingdom was only of a month, it took the soldiers several months because of the fact that they were numerous and stopping every once in a while to train.

"I doubt you'd like them," Magnus scoffed with a small smirk. "Women in my home-country are not the precious things that you have here. They are raised like men from their youngest age. They know how to fight, how to wittily converse, how to hunt. Many of them are actually better swordsmen than most of the men of your country."

"A woman with a sword? I'd like to see that," Simon said with disillusion, and then he turned to Jace for approval, "What do you think, General? Do you think a woman could beat you at the sword?"

Jace was known to be the best swordsman of their generation, and even in several other countries. Some of his men even thought that if the General Graymark could still defeat him, it was because Jace was respecting him as his elder and mentor. Jace swiftly and discreetly glanced at the girl and he saw that, even though she was fully concentrated on her arrows, a part of her mind was directed on the conversation.

"I think that with the training and the technique, everyone can be excellent. Beside, women can be pretty scary when pissed. Remember Maia?"

The men snickered and glanced at Jordan who rolled his eyes. Maia was his wife of two years, though she wasn't completely from the Morgenstern kingdom. Her father travelled beyond the seas only to come back fifteen years later with a little black girl of seven. It was the first time they ever saw a person of this colour, which made her father laugh as he told them that where they came from, people were even darker.

And Maia had a fiery personality which didn't make her hesitate on calling Jordan out on his cowardliness in the middle of the barracks when it came for him to step forward and take his responsibilities toward the pregnancy he started in her. When he started stuttering about not being sure to be good enough for her, Maia literally attacked him and had to be restrained by Jace so she wouldn't kill poor Jordan.

Jordan gently smiled and said, "She's not fully from here, it doesn't count. Still, don't give her a sword."

The men laughed, and at this right moment, the girl got up, putting her arrows back in place. She waved the company goodbye and walked toward the tents. A small silence grew after her departure, and then Mark asked Magnus:

"Where does this mute come from? Because I lived at the Palace all my life, and I _never_ heard of a mute."

"Because you live at the Palace makes you think you know everything about everything?" Magnus asked with a light tone, sipping once again from the bottle as it passed by him again. Mark shook his head and pointed out:

"No, but my family has always been in on the secret information. I, myself, am formed to follow this trail. And we all know how much mutes are praised and wanted as spies. So yeah, if a mute was to be in the castle, I think I'd know that."

"He's not spy material. That's why you never heard of him. He's always been under my protection, that's why you never saw him."

"Well, if he's under your protection, you should feed him a little more. It looks like he'll fly away at the first brisk of wind," Simon pointed out, making the men snicker, even though many approved.

Jace said nothing, even though he knew that she was even skinnier without her stuffed outfit, and after a few minutes, he decided to go to sleep. He got up and looked at his men, evaluating who drank the least and then he told them, "Blackthorn, you take the first shift. Bane, the second. I'll tell Lightwood that he's in for the last one."

He waited for Mark and Magnus to nod before he left, heading for his tent. But he approached his tent, his lieutenant's voice echoed behind him with a disapproving tone, "General."

"What is it, Lieutenant?" Jace wearily asked as he turned to face Alexander. Alexander pointed to a remote area where no one would be able to hear them, and once they were all alone, he told Jace:

"I'm here as a friend. As the friend who learned everything with you. What you're doing with her is wrong. You shouldn't go down that road. You should send her back to Magnus and forget about her."

"As a friend, or as a lieutenant, this is none of your concern," Jace snapped, tired of hearing that he was doing her wrong. Alexander looked at him for a long time with his blue eyes, internally debating on whether he should tell him something, and then he heaved:

"You never lived at the Palace, I did. Even though you were taught many things by the King, he never taught you about the subtleties of Court. He never taught about the way people behave among them at Court. I know all of those things, when you know _nothing_ of them. And most importantly, I know her. I've seen her grow up. And let me tell you that girls from the Palace are not like the girls from town."

Even though he kept his face unreadable, Jace's attention snapped at the mention of the girl's and Alexander's common past. Jace was tempted to ask his lieutenant more about it, but he restrained himself from doing so. Despite the fact that he highly doubted that Alexander would be happy about his questions, Jace knew that she wouldn't like him poking around to know more about her. Just like he wouldn't like her doing so about him if he had a real past.

Jace deeply breathed in and planted his golden orbs on Alexander's blue eyes as he curtly said, "Whether she is a girl or not, whether she is from Court or not, doesn't matter. You shouldn't care about what's happening in my tent, exactly the same way you didn't for the past five months."

And with those words, Jace started walking away. But as he was leaving, Alexander warningly said, "You should think of the consequences of your actions, Wayland."

Jace paused a few seconds before continuing his ascension toward his tent. Once there, he surprisingly found the girl sitting on his bed. Jace didn't say anything and made sure that the opening of his tent was shut close. Then he silently walked to her, his eyes never leaving her green emeralds as he approached her, and he removed his travelling clothes before sitting next to her in his camisole.

Slowly, he brought his hand to her face and he gently caressed her cheek with tenderness and delicacy. She sheepishly smiled and asked him, "Did you also get a lecture?"

Jace nodded, repressing himself from rolling his eyes, but noting somewhere that she too had to bear warnings from her side. He wondered if it was Magnus or Alexander who lectured her, and then a detail of his conversation with Alexander echoed in his mind. "How do you know Alexander?"

"I used to make his siblings crazy." The girl slightly replied with a smirk of satisfaction, and she made two green apples appear from under her cloak. She gave one to Jace as she explained, her eyes sparkling of delight, "I found an apple tree in the woods."

"You know Isabelle and Maxence?" Jace inquired with a quirked eyebrow as the girl bit into her apple with an obvious joy. She nodded and swallowed her chunk of apple before she went on:

"Yes. Izzy was suppose to make a lady out of me, and Max to make sure that I wouldn't run wild in the Forest. Do I need to tell you that they miserably failed?"

"You liked going to the forest as a child?" Jace asked with surprise. The forest nearing the castle was extremely dark and dense. And people knew that dangerous beasts inhabited those woods, such as bears and wolves, both bigger than the normal.

Jace saw nostalgia linger in her green eyes, which made him frown a little as she told him, "I still did sometimes, when I managed to escape Mags' tough watch."

Jace's frown got even more intense at her use of past tense, but she didn't seem to notice as she continued, "Actually, my father had never been as relieved as when Mags arrived at the Palace. He said that Mags made me nicer."

"_Nicer_?" Jace said with a disbelieved chuckle as he removed her cloak and scarf with carefulness. "Didn't he teach you to fight?"

"He did. But not the sword. I learned from my …" The girl stopped herself before she got up and finished her sentence, "I learned from the best. Though Mags taught me how to wear a corset."

Jace looked at her as she did what he did earlier, removing her travelling clothes, and then he repeated her last statement with shock, "_Magnus_ taught you how to …"

"It was hilarious," the girl said said with a mocking smile. Once she was in nothing but her own camisole, she sat back next to Jace and she explained: "I threw a tantrum because those godforsaken things are made to stop you from breathing. And so Mags reasoned that it wasn't so awful, so he wore one, which resulted in me being obligated to wear that stupid corset dress."

She rolled her eyes of annoyance, and Jace only smiled at that as he gave her his own apple for she just finished hers. She gladly took it and frowned when she saw his smile. Jace undid her hair and leaned to kiss her neck before he murmured in her ear: "I'm just trying to picture you wearing a corset dress."

"_Me_?" The girl asked with disbelief, her green eyes wide. "Didn't you hear me when I said that _Mags_ wore a corset?!"

"I did. But, somehow, the image of you is much more appealing than Magnus's." Jace confessed, taking the girl in his arms and placing her between his legs. They silently stayed seated like that, Jace gently caressing her hair as he could see a slight blush growing on her cheeks.

"What about your mother? Why didn't she …" Jace started, but he cut himself as the girl frowned and stiffened, making him understand that it was a very delicate subject with her. He heard her swallow hard as she looked down, and so he figured that her mother was probably dead. "It's okay. You don't have to answer. I just wanted to know who was missing you back home."

"The people who love me. Just like the people who love you miss you," the girl said, resting her head against Jace's chest and tracing the muscles of his arms through his camisole. Jace repressed a shiver under her touch and he told her:

"No one is missing me."

"What about the King?" she asked, tilting her head up to look at him in the eyes. "Don't you think that your wellbeing is something vital to him? Don't you think that your survival is all he wishes for?"

"The King will easily cope with my death," Jace sternly affirmed, making the girl frown as she retorted:

"I don't think so. Everyone says he considers you like the son he never had. I think your death would literally destroy him."

Jace swallowed hard, knowing somewhere in his heart that it was true. He mindlessly caressed the girl's arms as he tried to picture himself in the inverted situation. Because he was a soldier, Jace always pictured himself dying in battle, before the King, but how would he react to the King's death? How would he cope with the disappearance of the only person who really cared for him and his wellbeing? The only person who patiently sat by his side throughout his whole life and listened to every single one of his doubts and hopes.

"Jace?" the girl said with a small voice, startling him out of his thoughts. Jace slightly shook his head and looked down to her to give her his full attention, and she asked him: "How does it feel to be lost in a world you don't belong to?"

"Uncomfortable," Jace truthfully told her, his eyes lost now into space. "It's something I wish for no one."

"Would you have stayed if the King hadn't been so nice to you? If he had kept you as his prisoner, or turned you in a servant?" she asked again, and Jace frowned at those words. The King never would have done so, it wasn't in his nature. He looked back at the girl and he noticed that she seemed even frailer than she already was, so he held her a little bit closer to him before he honestly said:

"I don't know. This situation never happened for me to think that way."

"But he did give you the choice to stay, didn't he?"

Jace nodded, and the girl opened her mouth to ask him another question before she stopped herself. Jace leaned forward and kissed her neck as he said, "Ask away. If I don't want to answer, I'll tell you."

"There's this rumour saying that the King wanted to take you with him to the Palace when he caught you in the kitchens, but you refused. My father always said it's because you have high morals, but you were only ten. At ten, you don't really care about morals when you never had anything in life. So, why?"

"Do you know the precise day the King found me in the kitchen?" The girl shook her head. "It was the happiest day of the King's life, and that's why he had been so nice with me. It was the day the Queen gave birth to our future Sovereign."

"I don't follow." The girl said, obviously lost by Jace's trail of thoughts. Jace gently smiled and caressed the girl's cheek as he explained:

"I didn't want to come between the King and the love he was supposed to give to his child. Because I always lived without a parent's love and I knew how to deal with it. And there was there was also the fact that I was scared of having the possibility of a family, all of a sudden."

The girl nodded, looking down and therefore preventing Jace to know what she was thinking. She stayed silent for an indefinite time and Jace decided to ask about her, too, "Do _you_ know the King?"

"You never really know a person, not even yourself." She tilted her head back up with a small smile as she told Jace, "My father often said that. But, yes. I've already seen the King. I think he is quite stern."

"Really?"

"In politics he is. He is not ruthless per se, but I wouldn't want to be his political enemy,' the girl explained with seriousness, and Jace told her what the King always told him about his politics:

"You cannot show your weakness to your enemies. You can only show them mercy once you have defeated them. That's his motto."

"I know. And I agree. But that doesn't make it normal. Just sad."

"That's because you've never really seen war at your doorstep. And pray that you never will," Jace wisely said. The girl didn't reply with anything, and Jace thought back of this little glimpse of her life she just gave him. He used to think that she was the General's daughter, but every time she mentioned her father, she used the past tense, which meant that her father was probably dead as the two of them spoke.

He leaned and trailed kisses on her neck for a long time, making her shiver a little, and then he asked, "Would you talk to me about your family?"

The girl slightly bit her lower lip before she said, "My father loves me beyond words. My godfather knows me better than anyone else. Mags is all I could ever wished for. There's nothing really interesting about my family besides that."

Jace didn't push the matter further, feeling how uncomfortable she was on talking about her family. But he still noted that she didn't mention her mother and that this time she used the present tense to talk about her father. This allowed Jace to understand that she wasn't expecting to come back from this mission. He didn't think she was a runaway because of the love in her tone when she mentioned her family, and so he wondered what made her think that she wouldn't go back to the kingdom after this mission.

.

**~.o.O.o.~**

.

Jace left his tent bright in the morning, shortly after the girl left, and he looked at the high mountain before him. They had started marching four days ago, and for those three nights, the girl slept with him. And now, Jace was sure of himself when he was thinking that she was the daughter of the General. More than once, she said things that only the General would have said.

And still, Jace couldn't find it in himself to feel guilty about what he was doing to her. Every night, he worshiped her body with passion and desire, and each night, it seemed like she asked for more. Jace couldn't wait for this mission to be over so he could properly take her and make her scream his name until her voice was hoarse. Then the General would properly plant a sabre in Jace's chest for doing things with his daughter that no man should have ever done.

Slowly the camp woke up and then the soldiers started removing any sign of their presence there. Still, Jace sensed a tension among his men, and he caught many of them glancing at the mountain where they would soon be. Jace hopped on his horse, going through the camp to give his orders, and once he was at one of his adjutant's level, Mark stopped him by raising his arm.

Jace steadied his horse and indicated to Blackthorn that he could talk. Mark stepped closer so no one could hear him and he told Jace:

"General, those woods are haunted. The men can sense the presence of a woman ever since we walked in."

Jace smirked and replied, "Are you telling me that there is a ghost frightening you, Blackthorn?"

"I didn't say a _ghost_. I said that there's a _female presence_. You know what they say about mountains…" Mark trailed off, shivering before he glanced back at the mountain.

In the popular beliefs, mountains didn't always exist. They were actually created by women who had been wronged and who were seeking for revenge. This woman would always be wearing white and lure men into her arms with a sweet and innocent face, before she would rip the beating hearts out of the men's chests and crush it before their very alive and frightened eyes. But Jace didn't believe in these fairy tales, just like he didn't believe in the demons that were supposed to haunt the Forest of their kingdom.

"Well, as long as I don't see this avenging spirit before my eyes, we will keep on going in that direction."

But as he said so, Jace's eyes swiftly drifted to the girl. And he had to admit that ever since they started marching toward the mountain, she seemed more feminine. In her way to walk or to sometimes look at him, Jace could now tell without a doubt that she was a girl behind her soldier's clothes. _Especially_ when he saw her eyes darken with lust when their eyes would sometimes met out of nowhere.

She must have felt him staring, because her eyes looked up to his. And even though he couldn't see her mouth, Jace knew that she just smiled to him. He smiled back before leading his horse to the front of his troops.

They travelled all day long, Jace trying to stay as close as possible to the stream of water he saw coming down from the mountain. The woods were still next to them, starting to get more sparse as they ascended, and after long hours of walking and marching to the mountain, Jace was about to pull down to set camp for the night but a flamed arrow suddenly broke his ranks.

Jace swiftly snapped his head in direction of where the arrow came from, and he saw a consequent heard of brigands running to them.

He yanked on his horse's leach and yelled, "Retreat to the woods!" Then he made his horse go through his men, in direction of the brigands as he vividly ordered, "Lightwood, you take care of the first division. Blackthorn, the second. Lewis, you're in charge of the arsenal and the food supplies. Kyle and your men, with me."

Everyone did as told as the brigands were already at their level. Jace saw the girl swiftly jump on her horse in one gracious motion, and Magnus jumped on his own as she was already arching her bow and shooting toward the outlaws.

The marauders were more trained than Jace ever expected them to be, and they had more experience and weapons than brigands usually do. Still, Jace fought off the ones who were going to his men, when suddenly Magnus was by his side. Jace snapped his head to him, but he did not find the girl next to Magnus.

"Where is she?!" Jace yelled above the carnage, and then his eyes caught in the distance that she was with Alexander's division.

And then, everything happened in the blink of an eye.

Her horse made a rear in front of a man extremely tall and strong built, making her fall hard on the ground. She didn't seem to even care, and she got up in a jiffy, her two sabres in hands. The brigand drew his sword. They battled, but at some point, the giant managed to have a grip on her, making her drop her weapons. And as the giant was about to plunge his sword in her, her scarf fell down, revealing her delicate and feminine face.

Jace was already directing his horse toward them when the girl kneed her aggressor and dashed to the darkness of the woods, grabbing her sabres on the way. The brigand was only surprised for a second for he swiftly followed her there, an evil smirk of satisfaction and lust plastered on his face.

.

**~.o.O.o.~**

**.**

**Mouhahahahahahahahahahh. The Loves of my life, cliffies. Can I tell you how much I love them! Can you tell? Mouhahahahahah. I dear babies are back. Oh yeah. Well, I hope you liked this very long and enlightening chapter.**

**So, there is something I wanted to ask you, beside the cliffie (mouhahahahahah). Someone PMed me about right ink the story from the girl's point of view. Like all the same chapters, but from her point of view, and I wanted to know if you were interested in that.**

**anyway, don't forget to tell me all about your feelings on this chapter.**

**And I wrote this one shot called, Those Mistakes of the Past. If you have t****ime go check it out and give me your thoughts on it, that would make my day :-)**

**And, guess who's back with a Beta? Me! With my lovely Arelia Miles, that didn't change. If you don't know her already, go check her story Crossed, it's freaking awesome (though she knows how I feel already, I'm just telling you). And she also wrote this oneshot called Loved-Past Tenses and I freaking loved this one.**

**Anyways, Cassandra Clare owns the Mortal Instruments franchise, everything else is mine.**

**Kiss㈍9 Kiss㈍9 Bang㈝9 Bang㈝9. Loved-Past Tense**


	11. Fire and Water

**So, Update, update. Here it is. **

**To Jilessa, I won't mind at all a beta for another story. Which story are you interested in beta'ing? Let's connect. It's Mina Lisly every where.**

**To all the lovely you that revieŵed and to whom I didn't reply yet, fanfic is being a b*** to me lately and don't send me anything. Not even the updates. Ouiiiiiin. Fanfic is a big meanie. I'm trying to answer though, I really am, I don't mean to be mean.**

**anyway, enough rumbling about me, let's enjoy this chapter as it is meant to be enjoyed. **

**.**

Jace rushed his horse to the spot where the girl disappeared, but he never got a chance to reach it. Brigands endlessly came in the way, attracted by him because he was on a horse. In one swift movement, Jace got down of his steed and smacked it away, drawing his swords and fighting every outlaw that crossed his path.

Without knowing how Magnus managed to do so, Jace noticed that he was always by his side. And he also noticed that Magnus's fighting style was really different than his. Magnus seemed to almost dance, and still, it seemed familiar. Somewhere in his mind- as he was impaling with his sword yet another brigand- Jace recognised that the girl almost fought the same way.

As he was fighting blade against blade with another outlaw, the brigand recognised the insigne on Jace's chest and yelled: "We have a general, here!"

But before he could say or do anything else, Magnus came from behind him and sliced his throat. Then he rushed to Jace and ripped the insigne off his chest to throw it on the ground: "I'll be the general from now on." And before Jace could retort anything, Magnus spun on himself to fight with someone behind him.

Jace did the same, but suddenly, as he was also fighting against someone attacking him, he heard a scream that froze his insides. Even his opponent seemed paralysed by this scream, and it was completely comprehensible. It was the scream of terror made by a girl, and since they were on a battle field, this scream was out of place and terrifying. All the blood of Jace's face left in the blink of an eye, and Jace glanced at the place where the girl disappeared. He heard Magnus swear next to him, and Jace plunged his sword in his adversary chest, no longer caring about anything but finding the girl.

He made his way to the darkness of the forest where she engulfed herself with that giant, and before he knew it, Magnus jumped on him, yelling: "Wayland, careful!"

Both men fell, and when Jace turned his head, he saw that Magnus had been shot in the shoulder, instead of him. Magnus forcefully kept them on the floor until the wave passed by. Then, they both got up, and Magnus cut the extra piece of the arrow planted in his shoulder as he dismissively said, he eyes strutting the forest: "She will take care of that. We just have to find her."

"That was plain stupid!" Jace exclaimed with anger. It wasn't much that he cared for Magnus's life, but Jace promised the King that he would bring him back his men. And, mostly, the girl was extremely fond of Magnus. Jace knew it. He could hear it in her voice every time she would mention his name, and she literally told Jace that Magnus was her everything. So how would have she react if Magnus would have died, trying to save Jace's life? She never would have forgiven Jace.

"Like I keep repeating to you, the King insisted on your return." Magnus simply replied, as if this simple statement was settling every argument Jace could have brought. They both buried themselves even deeper in the woods, aware of the sudden quietness that was alerting them of the end of the fight.

For a moment, the two men stayed silent, looking for the girl. Jace let Magnus lead the hunt for he knew the girl better than Jace, and so he would know what she would or wouldn't have gone to. Suddenly, out of nowhere, Magnus asked: "Didn't you ever wondered why the King didn't just let you be an army man? Why he bothered himself in teaching you about politics and manners during all those years, when he already had a successor assigned?"

"What are you implying?" Jace warily inquired, slowing a little his pace to stare at Magnus. He didn't like all those unsaid things that were hidden behind Magnus's words. If he was listening to Magnus, the King never felt anything toward Jace. All he did to him was out of strategy, and not of kindness.

"I'm not implying anything." Magnus said matter-of-factly, heaving of satisfaction as he found the stream. "I'm just saying that you should think a little more about the King's decisions concerning your wellbeing."

Magnus made them go along the stream, and Jace estimated that they were now half a mile from camp. He felt guilt take over him as he knew that he should have left Magnus go alone in the search of the girl, and he should have gone back to camp to take care of his men. But Jace had to make sure that she was safe and sound.

As if to help them, the sky suddenly cleared, and it revealed a view that made Magnus freeze on the spot before he rushed to the inanimate corpse of the giant who pursued the girl. Jace swallowed hardly, and allowed himself to hope when Magnus made the body roll to check if she wasn't beneath him. But she wasn't there. There was actually no sign that she was ever at this place. There was nothing but a bloody blue cloak and a sabre.

Jace frowned as he recognised the cloak as his lieutenant's, but before he could find any rational explanation, Magnus said in a blank murmur full of fears: "Where is she?"

"She's back to camp. With Alexander." Jace rationalised, trying to reassure more himself than the foreigner. But Magnus shook his head and picked up from the floor the sabre, holding it as an irrefutable proof of her demise.

"She wouldn't have left it behind. It's the last present that her father gave her. She _never_ would have left _this_ sabre behind."

Jace shook his head of denial and stubbornly said: "She's back to camp with the men. Something came up, and she had to leave that behind. But she's back to camp."

Magnus longly stared at Jace before he heaved and followed the General back to camp, the sabre in hand and an inexplicable frown in his brows. During all their way back, Jace tried to ease the feeling of anxiety growing in him and to reassure himself the same way he reassured Magnus. The girl _was_ safe and sound in camp. She was, if he would somehow feel that something was wrong.

When they arrived back to camp, Jace's eyes automatically looked for the girl as he asked the first adjuvant he encountered about the damage. Jordan walked him toward the General's tent that they turned into an infirmary as he told him everything that Jace missed:

"There are still six men missing. Several injured and Blackthorn received an arrow in his back. They're trying to save him in the tent."

Jace snapped his eyes to Jordan, noting from the corner of his eye that Magnus left the two men to go to his own tent that had been erected in a corner of the camp hastily built. Jace kept on following Jordan, asking about Mark.

"How bad is Blackthorn's situation?"

"He refused care at first because he didn't want to live and be a cripple. But he's okay now. I think. I don't really know. I had to take care of building camp and counting the men coming back small groups by all groups?"

"What about the lieutenant?" Jace asked as it was normally Alexander's job to do so. Jordan opened the tent for his General as fear finally got a grip on Jace's insides for he knew that if Alexander wasn't here, neither was the girl.

"He's here, taking care of the injured. He instructed me to take care of the camp." Jordan explained while Jace took in the inside of the tent.

A dozen of men were there, either laying on quickly made mattresses, either sitting on the bare floor. But the first thing Jace saw was Blackthorn laying on his stomach while Alexander was holding him steady on the floor and an other pulled soldier his left arm strongly in a very unnatural position. They all heard a very loud crack that made them all shiver, and Mark grunted of relief.

Then Alexander snapped his head up to Jace, and the soldier -who was still fussing over Blackthorn- followed his gaze when the lieutenant discreetly touched his hand. And finally Jace sighed of relief as he saw that it was the girl. She seemed as relieved as him to see him, but then she noticed his bloody uniform and her eyes wandered to a blank spot next to him.

"The mute practically took care of everyone's injury. And he definitely saved Blackthorn's life." Jordan explained, and Mark grunted of approval from his bed. Jace quickly glanced at the other men around him and he surprisingly saw that many were sleeping, despite the fact that one of their brother just had his arm pulled back in place. He let his eyes wander until he found a decoction next to the girl, and so he assumed that it was something that helped people sleep when they were stressed.

"Magnus is in his tent. He will need care too." Jace said, looking straight into the girl's eyes, and she briefly nodded, clearly relieved by his statement, before snapping her head back to Blackthorn.

Jace walked a little to them under Alexander's careful eyes, and then he asked his adjuvant: "How are you doing, Blackthorn?"

"I'll feel better when we'll leave this Godforsaken mountain! I told you there was a woman around. Did you hear the scream?" Mark cried out from his bed of sorrow, and Jace clearly saw the girl's back tense. Apparently, Alexander saw it too because he teasingly said:

"You're delirious, Mark. We all know it was Simon who can't handle a thorn in his finger."

"Hey! I'm still not sleeping!" Simon cried out from a corner of the tent, and Jace indulged himself a small chuckle before leaving the tent, indicating Alexander that he wanted to talk to him.

The two men walked out of the tent, and as soon as they were out, Alexander said, implicitly pointing out all the blood on Jace's outfit: "You should ask for care, too, General."

"It's not my blood. It's mostly from opponents. Maybe a little of Magnus's too. He jumped in front of the arrow that was aiming me." Jace explained, and Alexander nodded as he informed Jace a little bit more on Mark's condition:

"She said that Blackthorn should be operational in a week."

"We'll camp then." Jace said before he walked to the stream alone to wash the blood off of him.

.

**~.o.O.o.~**

.

Jace made a final check on his injured soldiers, a few having been added with the coming back of the missing men, and then he entered in Magnus's tent to at least thank the foreigner for saving his life. Jace wasn't surprised to find the girl sleeping at Magnus's bed, a worried hand on the politician's chest, and for a second, he stayed still, taking in this view that was worth any painter's imagination.

Then he silently walked to them and rested a comforting hand on her shoulder, making her snap her head up, her eyes swiftly drifting to Magnus first before she looked back at Jace. They both stayed silent like that for a long minute, and then Jace slowly retrieved her scarf, and he clearly saw the print of a hand on her neck and jaw. He tightened his own jaw of anger and asked her, afraid of the answer: "Are you alright?"

"I'm here and alive." She said, looking back at Magnus before she sponged his forehead with love and care. Jace swallowed back his bile, and he gently took her face in his hands to force her to look at him.

"Did he …" Jace started, but he found himself unable to formulate out loud the words. Especially when she was looking at him with her big green eyes. "I know he saw what you really are." He settled on saying, before he gently caressed her cheeks.

"I'm alright, Jace." She assured him with a small smile, leaning against him to rest her head on his chest, silently asking him to embrace her, which he did. "I'm just a little shaken up. Nothing happened."

Jace frowned, sure that she wasn't telling him everything, but because he didn't want to push her, he only leaned forward and gently kissed all her bruises with all the delicacy he could muster. Then he tightened a little his grip on her, relished to feel her alive in his arms and he told her: "You should go get some rest. I'll watch over Magnus."

The girl shook her head and broke out of their embrace to look back at Magnus, sponging his forehead once again. Jace didn't move from where he was standing, and let satisfaction take over in just watching her busying herself next to him.

"My mother." The girl suddenly said out of nowhere, breaking the peaceful silence they had been in. Jace stared at her, not sure of what to say, and she continued, her head still turned to Magnus as she gently caressed his black hair:

"You asked once what Magnus was to me. He's the mother I never knew. I know he is a man, and I shouldn't say that about him, but that's how I always saw him. Because of my father's position, I always had been surrounded by boys and men, and somehow, Magnus made me forget that. Somehow Magnus showed me that gender shouldn't be a difference in so many things.

Magnus is the person who taught me how to dress and how to fight for myself. He's the person who healed me back to life when I was really young. He's the person who bared all my tears and insecurities. He's the person who used to sneak sweets to me when my father would ground me. He's my everything, even though I often gave him a hard times."

"You want me to leave?" Jace asked, understanding that she needed privacy, but as he said so, the girl raised her head to him and shook her head, her green emeralds pleading him to stay with her.

Jace smiled and sat on the floor before opening his arms to her, and so she walked to him, placing herself in the creek Jace proposed her, finding comfort in his arms as he soothed her down with comforting words. Jace gently kissed her forehead, his fingers tracing circles on her skin as she looked up to him with a frown of worry on her face. Jace smiled to her, and she brought her hand to his face to delicately caress his cheek as she whispered: "You seem worried."

"I was. We all just miraculously survived an attack." Jace said matter-of-factly before he added with honesty, his heart beating like a tambour: "But I was mostly worried about you. I was worried that something might have happened to you."

The girl slightly shook her head and insisted: "You were worried before the attack. Ever since we started walking on the mountain, there's been a tension in your shoulders."

Jace froze a little, his brows strongly frowned and then he looked down to stare at the girl. He hesitated a moment before he explained to her the anxiety that grew in him a little more as they neared the Garroway kingdom.

"When we left the kingdom, I was planning on executing a swift mission. One that would result with our enemy's head on a plate. But I recently learned that I should spare him at all cost, and this is problematic. I trained my men for war. I planned all my attacks with war in mind. I never considered anything but a bloody battle and us as conquerers. But now … now I have been instructed peace, and peace cannot be made through war. King Luke knows that I'm coming. He's expecting me. I'm sure that this attack was set up by him, they were too well trained for simple brigands. How am I suppose to argue peace with him when he's already preparing for war?" Jace finally asked, allowing himself to do something he never did before. He confided his worries with someone else.

The girl stayed silent a few seconds, obviously taking in the fact that she was following a general that didn't know how to deal with a given situation, and Jace didn't like the way it was making him feel. He didn't want her to doubt his capacities. Wether it was as a man or as a general, he wanted her to have a blind faith in him.

"You shouldn't waver your plans." The girl finally said in a very low murmur. Then she snuggled into Jace and added: "Sometimes the simplest answer is the best. You prepared for war, he prepared for war, we prepared for war. You should give the impression that you'll give everyone what they want. You should attack the Garroway King inside his castle, imposing him your strength and therefore peace. War cannot bring peace, but it can help build it by the fear it creates."

.

**~.o.O.o.~**

.

_Water. Everywhere. Nothing but tumultuous waters, endlessly living and trashing, endlessly trying to drown Jace as it burned him like the fires of Hell. Jace kept on fighting his way to the surface until the moment when the water finally stilled, giving Jace some rest. But this rest didn't last long for he saw a wave of fire coming to him with the speed of a tornado._

_Jace desperately tried to escape the water, but he couldn't. The water didn't let him. It kept him prisoner and the fire ultimately collided with Jace, surrounding his whole body and dancing with the water, creating a waltz of blue and red._

_And suddenly, Jace was in the middle of the Forest, back in the Morgenstern kingdom. He looked around, trying to find his way out of this maze of trees, but it only seemed that the Forest was getting more and more dense. Until a path cleared by itself in front of Jace, illuminated by a sweet and peaceful sunlight._

_For a second, Jace didn't move, not sure of what to do, and then two voices echoed in the same time, full of angst and fear: "Jace, help me!"_

_Jace paled as his heart felt like it was torn in half. He recognised the girl's voice but there was also the King screaming for his help. The King's voice was coming from the other end of the enlightened path, while the girl's was coming from the deepest part of the forest. Jace knew that he had a choice to make on wether to save the girl or to save his King, and when all his reason told him to go to the King, when all his duty was screaming at him to go to his monarch, Jace still found himself subconsciously rushing to the girl._

_He ran, burying himself into the darkness of the woods and cursing himself for choosing his own personal desires over the King, and finally, after interminable minutes of anguish, Jace found the girl, her red hair vibrant and becoming the only light in the obscurity of the forest._

_She was terrifying. All aura of innocence or kindness that always emanated from her was gone. She was squatting over someone, a man's sword buried in the person's chest and a look of murder darkening her face. And _this_ was what was frightening, she clearly enjoyed the kill she just did._

_Her hair was redder than usual, as if she just came back from Hell, and her curls were flying all around her, even though there wasn't a single brisk of wind. Jace made a minute step toward her, not sure of what he should do, and so she snapped her attention away from her victim and up to Jace. Her eyes weren't of their usual green, but pitch black as the starless night; and Jace felt his whole body freeze as a malicious smirk grew on her lips: "Too late."_

_And with those two single words, the terrifying girl disappeared in a smoke, red as blood and thick as cotton. Jace glanced at the body laying on the floor, a knot of anxiety tearing his insides apart, and there he saw her. _The girl_. The normal girl who was sweet and innocent, bathing in her own blood._

_Jace rushed to her and took her minute body in his arms, caressing her cheek as he uselessly asked her to open her eyes. She fluttered her eyes open, and grimaced when she saw him staring at her with worry. She tried to talk, but Jace shushed, his fingers leaving bloody traces on her face and making her appear even paler than she already was._

_The girl hardly swallowed, obviously in pain, and then she told him, disappointment in her eyes and in her voice: "Why are you here? The King needed you. You failed him."_

Jace woke up with a start, and automatically tightened a little the hold he had on the girl. She was still soundlessly sleeping in his arms, her small head resting against his chest as she was snuggled between the creek of his legs. Jace looked down at the girl and her red hair, but before he could even think about the significance of his dream, he felt an intense stare on him.

He quickly looked up, afraid to have been careless and revealed to a soldier the girl's true nature, but Jace felt a slight relief when he realised that it was only Magnus looking at them with an indescribable gleam lightening his eyes. The two men stared at one another for a long time before Magnus said in a low whisper: "You're playing a dangerous game, Wayland."

"I'm not playing." Jace automatically replied without being able to stop himself. Magnus narrowed his eyes at Jace, and both stiffened when the girl stirred a little in her sleep. But she only snuggled a little more in Jace's armS, and Jace held her closer to him, earning a small smile of satisfaction from the sleeping girl.

"Which is why it's dangerous." Magnus continued with the same hushed tone he used before. "Didn't you ever wonder why she is here? How many girls of sixteen do you know that are ready to _literally_ do anything for their kingdom? At sixteen, you only wish to get married when you're a girl. Nothing else."

Jace was about to ask Magnus about the girl's motivations, when the first ray of sun illuminated the tent. The girl bluntly woke up, like she did every morning when the sun would appear in the sky. She looked up to Jace, a gentle smile spreading her lips. But before she could give him the morning kiss that she always gave him when she woke up in his arms, Magnus heavily coughed behind her.

The girl rushed to the foreigner who used this opportunity to glare at Jace, before he reassured the redhead in an embrace: "I'm alright, Angel."

"Let me check your shoulder before I go check on the others." She worriedly say, and Jace caught Magnus rolling his eyes with a condescending smile. They really looked like a family at this moment, and so Jace quietly got up to give them some privacy. Once outside, he listened to Simon reporting on his short night shift, even though Jace's mind was elsewhere.

No matter what, he couldn't forget about his dream and about what his subconscious was trying to tell him: this girl was coming between his King and him.

.

**~.o.O.o.~**

**.**

**Mouhahahahahahahahahahh. The Loves of my life, cliffies. WHat is Jace going to do? I don't know, maybe he'll dump her. Mouhahahahahahahahahahahahahahaha. I'm so freaking evil. But this is supposed to be a cute story (take nice of the suppose).**

**So what did you think of the dream? And the beginning? What do you think happened with the girl? Anyone who can guess will have a sneak peak of the next chapter ... Or a wish coming true for the guest reviewer.**

**so I started this crazy thing called Pinterest. My sister has been bugging me since forever, and then a twin of mine finally triggered in me the thing. And I think I am starting to get slightly addicted to it. There's a board of this story, and I'll upload new pictures tonight about this chapter. my Pinterest is Mina Lisly (how original) and the board is named 'In The Welfare Of War'.**

**And i started this story called 'Behind the Curtains' which is actually an old story, so if you want to check it out.**

**So, there is something I wanted to ask you, beside the cliffie (mouhahahahahah). Someone PMed me about right ink the story from the girl's point of view. Like all the same chapters, but from her point of view, and I wanted to know if you were interested in that.**

**anyway, don't forget to tell me all about your feelings on this chapter.**

**And I wrote those two one shot called, Those Mistakes of the Past and ALWAYS AND FOREVER. If you have t****ime go check it out and give me your thoughts on it, that would make my day :-)**

**And this chapter is unbeta-ex because it is quite big and I didn't want to exhaust my dear beta. But she's still awesome and she wrote this one shot that you should really check: LOVED-PAST TENSE**

**Anyways, Cassandra Clare owns the Mortal Instruments franchise, everything else is mine.**

**Kiss㈍9 Kiss㈍9 Bang㈝9 Bang㈝9. Loved-Past Tense**


	12. Choices and Revelations

**So, please take the time to read the note in the end**

**To all the lovely you that revieŵed and to whom I didn't reply yet, fanfic is still being a b*** to me and still don't send me anything. Not even the updates. Ouiiiiiin. Fanfic is still a big meanie. I'm trying to answer though, I really am, I don't mean to be mean. **

**Anyway, enjoy the chapter, and don't forget to read the note at the end.**

**.**

Jace nervously cracked the knuckles of his hands as he heaved in order to ease himself and then, he entered in Magnus's tent. The girl had disappeared in the middle of the afternoon, along with Alexander, after she took care of the several injured soldiers and Jace couldn't stop this feeling for growing within him. This feeling that something terrible happened to her during the battle and that she refused to tell anyone.

He knew that Alexander knew what happened. He could tell by the way the lieutenant looked at the girl with protectiveness gleaming in his blue eyes last night. But hadn't had the possibility to pin Alexander somewhere so he could tell him what happened. So now, Jace was stuck on going to Magnus in the hope to have a glimpse of what the tale of yesterday's events would be.

As Jace made sure that the tent was closed behind him, Magnus raised an inquiring eyebrow at the blond man, and so Jace lowly said the obvious: "Something happened to her last night."

Magnus stayed silent for a long moment, his brown eyes analysing Jace with attention, and then he slowly asked: "Are you asking me to betray the trust she has in me, for _you_?"

"No. I'd never ask that." Jace automatically replied, shaking his head. "I just want to know if she confided to someone. I just want to make sure that she didn't keep everything to herself."

Magnus passed a pensive hand through his hair, his eyes never leaving Jace's face and then he finally admitted: "She didn't really talk to me about last night. She left soon after you did." Magnus hesitated a little before he added: "But I know that something shocked her, yesterday. And I know it's not what you think. She wouldn't have screamed like that. You don't know her like I do."

"I saw her freeze in front of men as a woman. I saw her do nothing while three men were trying to pull her away."

Magnus kept his face as unfazed as he could, but Jace saw that he was taken aback by this piece of information, meaning that the girl didn't tell him everything that happened during their little trip to the village.

"Still." He said after a long silence. "I know all her screams, and this one was a scream of surprise. Believe me, _nothing_ happened to her."

"How can you be so sure?" Jace insisted, not understanding how Magnus could be so calm about a damage that could have possibly had been done to the girl.

"Because she let you hold her in your arms when violated women flee men's touch. Even the ones they are fond of." Magnus said matter-of-factly.

Jace stared at Magnus for a moment, trying to figure out what could have happened to the little redhead, and then he briefly nodded to the foreigner and left his tent to round though his injured men.

Jace had to admit that he was quite relieved that none of his soldiers' injuries were serious. Except for Blackthorn. Blackthorn who didn't seem eager to stop the topic of the Ghost Woman of the mountain that screamed for vengeance. Many men actually agreed with him that the sooner they would leave the mountain, the better it would be.

As Jace was repressing himself from rolling his eyes to those silly superstitions, Alexander entered into the infirmary tent that Jace was in, and looked deep into his eyes: "General. We need to talk."

Jace got up under the curious eyes of his men, and then he followed his lieutenant outside as the hooded girl entered to take care of the injured, clearly avoiding Jace's gaze. The men cheered for her as she showed a pot filled with water and infused leaves, but Jace never knew what happened next for Alexander was leading him to the border of camp.

As soon as he was sure that they were alone, Alexander gave Jace a broach and he told him: "She found this on one of the bodies."

Jace observed the little jewel with attention, frowning as he recognised the two eagles as the Velrac emblem, and he started turning the broach between his fingers as his mind was doing the dangerous conclusions forming before him.

"Why would she go searching bodies?" Jace asked, trying to avoid thinking of the obvious reality that he was now facing.

"Because she recognised the Velrac symbol." Alexander responded, looking straight in front of him, his hands in his pockets. Jace snapped his head to his lieutenant, decided to know what happened to her, but before he could ask, Alexander said:

"I'm taking a big risk showing you this broach, Wayland. She doesn't want you to know. We all know what this broach means. If Velrac soldiers are guarding the Garroway borders, it means that King Luke called King Patrick to the rescue. It means that he's preparing for war already."

Jace didn't reply anything because it was the truth. King Luke was preparing for a massive and bloody war, when _he_, Jace, only had sixty men with him to defend the Morgenstern kingdom on those lands. Maybe they should go back to the Kingdom and form a real army.

As if he heard Jace's thiughts, Alexander said: "She doesn't want you to think this way. She wants you to carry on with the mission as you intended. She_"

"_is not your General." Jace cut Alexander with a cold anger. It wasn't much that Alexander was telling him that annoyed Jace. It was more that the girl was treating him like a child that should be unaware of the big important decisions. "You shouldn't care about what she wants when it comes to_"

"With all due respect," Alexander said, his voice still even, contrasting with Jace's rising voice. "I trust her more than you in the matter of politics. You are a great general, but she is a wonderful strategist, despite her young age. If she says we should carry on as if nothing, I trust her to know better."

"_I_ am your _general_, it shouldn't matter what good politician she is." Jace stubbornly pointed out. "You should have_"

"It's what I just did, despite the fact that she asked me not to." Alexander said, his voice slightly stronger than at the beginning of the conversation. Then he deeply heaved, and before Jace could ask him anything, the lieutenant uttered:

"Nothing happened."

"Her screaming didn't seem like nothing." Jace snapped, unable to control himself as yet another person was telling him to not overreact to her terrifying scream.

"Another soldier arrived from behind and surprised her. He picked her up as I was shooting an arrow at the giant. Then I rushed to them because she froze. She _literally_ froze at the sight of the soldier's face. And … Let's just say that I killed him right on time, and then she said that we'd better go back to camp where she silently took care of everyone, as you already know."

"What do you mean 'right on time'?" Jace repeated with a blank voice. How could Alexander say that nothing happened if he arrived 'right on time'?

"I don't think you need a detailed picture of what a soldier who mingles himself with brigands intended to do with a girl lost in the woods." The lieutenant replied, obviously not wanting to go more into detail about this night.

Jace swallowed hardly, downing the information. Then he nodded and directed himself back toward the infirmary, hoping to find the girl there. But Jace only saw Mark, laying on his bed of sorrows with Jordan by his sides to keep him company. All the other soldiers were either asleep, either out of the tent.

"Where is the mute?" Jace asked with a frown knotting his brows. Mark shrugged and said:

"I think he went down to the stream for water."

"You _think_?"

"You know, it's not easy to communicate with someone who doesn't utter a single sound. He pointed the pot, so I guess he went for water." Jace nodded and directed himself toward the exit when Mark's voice stopped him:

"General? Doesn't the mute remind you of someone?"

"What do you mean?"

"I don't know. I never really paid attention to him until he took care of me. But his eyes … They seem oddly familiar."

"Magnus said that he's from the palace. Maybe you crossed his path several times without even knowing it."

"Maybe." Mark murmured, clearly not convinced by this explanation, and Jace finally left the tent to follow the stream but he didnt find the girl anywhere. Stoo. Jace kept on longing the stream until he found an apple tree. Once below it, he looked up and saw her hanging in a tree.

"Are you trying to avoid me?" Ha asked, because it was obvious that she had been hoping that he wouldn't look up.

"Yes." She said, without a glimpse of shame as she got down the tree with the grace of a squirrel. Jace waited for her to be steady on her feet before he tried to calmly reply:

"I don't think I did anything to make you act like that toward me."

"It's not what you did." The girl explained, keeping a ridiculously awful distance between them. "It's what _we_ did. I've been thinking a lot about it, and what we did was reckless."

"Yes, it was." Jace admitted, becauss she was completely right about it ' it was reckless. The girl looked down, playing nervously with her fingers as she added:

"And completely inappropriate."

"I agree." Jace conceded to her, and she continued with a low whisper:

"And pulling our focus out of our mission."

"Yes, it did." Jace agreed with her, and the girl sniffled, shame and disappointment written on her face.

Jace closed the distance between them and he cupped her face to make her look up. Her eyes were glistening with unshed tears, and Jace leaned forward to kiss her lips, tasting a little bit of apple on her.

"I chose you." He told her with the sweetest tone he ever used in his life. "When I was supposed to go to my men, my instincts took over and made me go to _you_."

The girl blinked a little, and Jace properly cupped her face, caressing her burning cheeks with his thumbs. She looked so vulnerable and beautiful at this moment that Jace wished he could capture this moment forever and never let go of it. He bent a little so his forehead would lean against hers and he asked her: "What have you done to me?"

"I didn't mean to make you doubt, General." She replied with a frown, and Jace ticked at her mention of his title. He didn't like how this simple word was suddenly creating an invisible barrier between them. The girl looked down and she continued: "I just wanted to … I don't know what I wanted. I just know it was irrational."

"I'm not doubting. I'm … I'm just telling you how it feels. I'm just telling you that you're important to me. That I care for your wellbeing more than any one else's in my troops. That I want you in my arms every night, despite the risk."

The girl slightly blush, illuminating her face with this shade that Jace loved on her.

"Did I ever tell you how beautiful you are when you blush?" Jace asked with a small smile, and the girl blushed even more.

He leaned forward and kissed her once again on her lips, but this time, she responded. She wrapped her arms around his neck and opened her mouth to him, colliding her minute body to his. Little by little, Jace made them move toward the tree where she was hiding in, and he tackled the redhead against it. When her back connected with the trunk, the girl moaned, fisting Jace's hair, and he endlessly caressed her body.

Slowly, Jace trailed his kisses to her neck, doing his best to be gentle and delicate for it was still bruised, and the girl yelped of pleasure when Jace slid his hand in her trousers. He was about to start fondling her when she strongly wrapped her delicate fingers around his wrist to stop him. Jace froze, thinking that he crossed an unknown boundary, and he asked her with worry:

"What's wrong?"

"I don't want you to touch me." She responded in a husky whisper. Jace closed his eyes to swallow his growing desire, and the girl timidly touched his cheek adding: "_I_ want to be the one touching _you_."

Jace opened his eyes of surprise only to close them back immediately for she was tiptoeing herself to kiss him. He repressed his instincts to touch her and let her lead the path, doing his best to not tremble under her soft and delicate touch.

Her fingers trailed his clothed chest, hesitant, but setting Jace's body on fire, and after a few long seconds, the girl nervously chuckled and said: "I'm too small to kiss you and touch you in the same time."

Jace gently chuckled and he made them both sit on the floor as he uttered: "Now, it's settled."

The girl sheepishly smiled, her eyes sparkling of delight and lust, and she leaned to kiss him back, her hands cupping his face the same way he cupped hers so many times. Slowly, she straddled on his laps before she made him lean backward, her lips never leaving his. Instinctively, Jace wrapped his hands around her waist and took back the control of the kiss, but she protested in a moan and tackled his hands at the level of his head.

"Just once, try to not be in control of everything, General." She luxuriously whispered in his ear, and Jace growled of frustration and anticipation. He never liked it when she called him by his title, but this time, the lust that echoed in her voice made his whole body aware of her.

She hesitantly let go of his hands, testing if he would attempt something on her, but Jace stayed steady, his eyes ravaging her body with desire. The girl smiled of satisfaction, and leaned back to kiss Jace's neck, her lips fluttering on his skin like butterfly wings. Slowly, her fingers trailed to the hem of his camisole before she lifted it off, making Jace sit back up.

Her eyes wandered on his chest as she gently traced his scars, and Jace swallowed hardly as he looked up to her and saw the sun bathing her in a halo of light that made her look like an angel. She was so beautiful at this given moment that it was becoming painful to restrain himself from touching her. The girl noticed the way he swallowed, and she frowned, asking: "Am I doing something wrong?"

"No. You're just breathtaking right now." Jace truthfully said, and the girl looked down, blushing as if the sun just touched her face. Jace chuckled a little and removed a strand of hair from her face as he added: "Didn't you ever receive compliments before?"

"None that mattered. People usually didn't mean those compliments, wether I can tell that you mean everything that you tell me." She mumbled, blushing even more at the last part, and Jace buried his hand in her hair to lustfully reply in her ear:

"In that case, let me tell you that I want you very much right now."

"I can feel that." She replied with a luxurious smirk before she made him lay back on the floor, her hips straddling him.

Jace watched her as she took off her own camisole and the bandages hiding her chest, and once she was completely topless, the girl blushed and leaned forward to kiss him. Slowly, her instincts took over her timidity and she let the kiss become more fierce and wild. She nibbled Jace's lower lip, still straddling his hip and creating a friction that Jace qualified as sweet agony. It seemed that she was slowly turning him on, on purpose.

The girl kept on moving on Jace, her fingers grazing his skin as she moaned in a low whisper. With hesitation, her hand took his hard member, and Jace clenched his jaw and closed his eyes to control himself. She was being so careful and hesitant that every single one of her movements set his nerves on fire. Slowly, her hand started going up and down, exploring Jace's erected manhood as if it was something new and fragile, and making Jace finding it hard to breath.

Still with hesitation, she kissed her way down, until she found herself at the level of his member. Jace swallowed hardly as she admired his head, and then she tilted her head up to him and asked: "Do you want me to make you die, too?"

Jace nodded, not trusting his voice to not quiver, and he grunted of pleasure when she timidly took him in her mouth. At first, the girl timorously explored his member with her tongue, only allowing the tip of his member in her mouth. But the more he grunted of pleasure, the more confident the girl grew, until she finally took him as much as she could in her mouth. Jace cursed loudly when she bobbed all her way down, and she immediately stopped, looking up to him with worry: "Did I do something wr_"

"No." Jace cut her off, sitting up to take her face in his hands. "There's nothing wrong in what you did. I just want you, _now_!"

And without giving her time to respond anything, Jace urgently kissed her and laid her on her back, his hands fumbling to undo her trousers. Before they both knew it, Jace was burying himself in her and ramming like there was no tomorrow. The girl moaned beneath him, planting her nails in his back and panting his name several times with lust, making Jace increase his path.

In one last thrust, he finished before collapsing on her in a heavy grunt. He pecked her whole face as they were both looking for their breath back. And after a few long minutes of perfect shared bliss, Jace rolled on the side and took the girl in his arms, hiding his face in the crook of her neck.

"I don't want to go back." The girl murmured in a low whine, and Jace couldn't agree more. He wanted to stay in this time between time that she always seemed to trap him in. He held her a little tighter and kissed the skin of her neck as an approval, and she continued: "I wish I could just … take off. To Mags home country, for instance. I want to see those giant cats he talked about, those _panthers_. He says that they're all black very big and long cats."

"I'll take you there as soon as the mission will be over." Jace promised without even thinking about it for a second. But as soon as the words left his mouth, Jace knew that he meant them. The girl, on the other hand, darkly chuckled and bluntly got up, breaking this magic moment they were sharing.

"We should go back to camp." She said, putting her clothes properly back on. Jace swiftly sat up, frowning at her disbelief.

"I'm not just saying that on the heat of the moment. I mean it. I'll take you see giant black cats." Jace said with seriousness. The girl shook her head and said, replacing her scarf on:

"Don't make promises you won't be able keep."

Then she replaced her hood on and she walked back to the tree to retrieve her messenger bag hanging on a branch, while Jace was swiftly getting back, pulling up his trousers. In a matter of seconds, he was by the girl's side, cupping her face as he murmured: "Don't make assumptions you know nothing about. When I make promises, I intend to keep them, no matter the cost. _Especially_ when it comes to the ones I care about."

The girl frowned a little and seemed about to retort something, but Jace silenced by removing her scarf and kissing her softly. "I _will_ take you see the giant cats of Magnus's country."

.

**~.o.O.o.~**

.

When they returned to camp, the girl directly went to Mark and checked his back, turning his arm in unnatural positions until she finally let him be. Jace noticed the way Mark was looking at her more intensively, trying to know where they met before, which made Jace slightly anxious. What if Mark recognised the daughter's General in her? Jace wasn't doubting that the ones of his men that lived all their lives in the Palace met the girl's path on several occasions.

The girl proposed her arm to Mark as if she wanted to arm wrestle, and Mark snickered: "Kiddo, even with a broken arm, I can still take your skinny self down."

The girl rolled her eyes and insisted, so Mark took her hand and tried to make her arm bend, a smirk on his face. But quickly, the smirk disappeared from his face to be replaced by a frown, as the girl kept her arm steady and unmoved. After a few moments of Mark struggling against her, she finally let go of his arm and gave him one of the apples she picked in the tree.

"Where do you hide all this strength? Your hood?" Mark asked with a playful smirked, even though it was obvious that he was ashamed to have been taken down by the ridiculously small mute. He was about to bite on the apple when she vividly stopped him and took back the apple. Then she clenched her fist around it several times, showing to Mark that the apple was there to help him exercise his shoulder, and not to be eaten.

Mark nodded and so she got up to leave the tent and go to her own. And despite how he knew it might look to the soldiers, Jace followed her and entered her tent. After all, he was still in need of a tent since his own was used as the infirmary.

As he closed the tent behind him, Jace noticed that Magnus wasn't in it, which stroke him as odd since Magnus always did his best to keep the girl away from Jace. He raised an eyebrow at his absence, and the girl replied: "I sent him away. He was freaking out on me, and his voice was getting even higher than mine."

Jace chuckled at her joke, even though in a corner of his mind, he noticed the power the girl had over Magnus. Jace walked the few steps separating them and squatted to the girl to whisper in her ear as he embraced her: "I want to sleep with you in my arms, tonight."

"Maybe we should go back to the stream, then." She replied with lust. Jace pecked her through her scarf and smiled to her before he left the tent and went I plan the night shifts.

.

**~.o.O.o.~**

.

_Once there was a Prince nice and kind. He was raised like every Prince were, to be the successor of his father the King and rule as a fair and kind monarch. This Prince always followed the rules and traditions, except when it came to marriage._

_You see, all Princes are meant to wed Princesses, like all Princesses are meant to wed Princes. But the Prince had this Lady friend in Court. She was said to be the most beautiful woman of the kingdom. She had a fair skin, and hair so long and silk that it looked unreal. She was the daughter of some noble in Court, but mostly, she was the Prince's best friend._

_They grew up together, and did everything together. They learned the art of scriptures together, the art of wit, the art of politics. The Prince even taught his Lady a few moves in the art of the sword. Everyone assumed that they would end up together, starting by the Prince. And the King even gave his blessing to this Union for he said that the Lady was perfect if it wasn't for her rank._

_But one day, came the delegation of another kingdom. In this delegation were two men, also best friends, also inseparable, also linked to life. And the Lady fell in love with one of them. But it was too late. The royal wedding was already planned and she couldn't take her word back. Besides, the Prince was still her best friend._

_She tried to tell him, but the words never reached her lips because she knew that the Prince loved her with all his soul. So she kept quiet and went through all the preparations of the wedding, her heart heavy because she wasn't doing it for the man she loved._

_When came the day of the wedding, the man she loved was there, heartbroken as he watched the love of his life going down the aisle toward another man. But when it came for her to pronounce her vows, the words died in her throat. She couldn't bring herself to promise her best friend things that she didn't feel for him. And so she broke his heart at the altar, telling him that she was in love with someone else before she ran away with that said person._

_The Prince vouched to get her back, dead or alive, and the Lady reconsidered running away with her love. She was afraid that he would get hurt in the process. But her lover assured her that he wouldn't risk a thing, and his best friend swore to protect them both until his very last breath. So the three of them left the kingdom of the Prince to start a new life together._

"This is a horrible bed time story." Jace said, and the girl sadly smiled to him, still playing with his fingers and hers. They were both laying under an apple tree, the girl's head on Jace's arm as if it was a pillow as she told him a tale to make him sleep. Tale that didn't seem to have any happy ending.

"I feel terrible for the Prince." Jace added and the girl shifted a little so she could look at Jace in the eyes:

"Had you been the Lady, would you have stayed?"

Jace thought about it for a second before he shook his head: "I would have left. If I had stayed, only bitterness would have grown. What about you?"

"I would have stayed. Out of duty, I would have stayed." She automatically replied, and Jace guessed that it was a question that people asked her a lot. She smiled a little before she asked: "Do you want to know the end of the story?"

Jace nodded, and the girl resumed her previous position before she pursued her tale: "The Prince grew up and became a King. A King good with his people, but who still held the grudge against that other Prince who stole his live and best friend. A King toward which you're marching and that you intended on beheading a few weeks ago."

"The war started because of a _woman_?" Jace uttered with shock. He never actually knew why the war started, but now that he had the reason, it seemed to him out of proportion. How could one be ready to sacrifice so many lives in order to get back a woman who doesn't even love him back.

And then, Jace thought of what the girl said about the two best friends coming from another kingdom. He moved a little to look at her closely, persuaded that the Lady of her tale was her mother and that she fell in love with the General, the King vouching for his best friend to protect them. Was it why she responded so vividly to his question about her staying? Because she knew she was the product of the reason of this war, the living proof of it? Was it why she illegally enrolled?

The girl blushed a little under Jace's intense stare, and Jace automatically leaned forward to peck her lips. He felt her lips spread into a gentle smile before she yawned a little.

"Sleep." Jace instructed her, bringing his cloak up to her shoulders as a cover. "I don't want you to fall of exhaustion tomorrow and to find a soldier with his hands all over you."

"It's okay. I've been surrounded by men all my life." She said, snuggling against him a,d Jace tightened gently the grip he had on her as he uttered:

"That doesn't mean that every men is meant to touch you."

She slightly chuckled, her laughter heavy with sleep and she said: "You sound just like my father. He kept on saying that he shall forever be the only man of my life. If he knew that _Jace Wayland_ is dangerously threatening his place as the only man of my life …"

.

**~.o.O.o.~**

**.**

**So here it is, that moment you craved for, a glimpse of the girl's past. I think it's obvious who her father is now. No cliffies here, even though this last sentence might sound like a love declaration and might just scare Jace away. After I don't know, I don't write the story ... Wait I do write the story. But I won't tell, because I'm a big meanie. **

**So I wanted to tell you that I'm sorry about my update faking forever, it's just that I have less time, and that working on my own novel also takes time and stuffs. So I won't update any other story this month. I will update Not A,other Teen Story, but that's it (I say that, but sometimes, I suck at saying no or at keeping on not writing, and when I mean sometimes, I mean all the time) So I'm going to take a break and update more regularly after. But do tell me all your lovely thoughts because it's always motivating. **

**so I started this crazy thing called Pinterest. My sister has been bugging me since forever, and then a twin of mine finally triggered in me the thing. And I think I am starting to get slightly addicted to it. There's a board of this story, and I'll upload new pictures tonight about this chapter. my Pinterest is Mina Lisly (how original) and the board is named 'In The Welfare Of War'.**

**And i started this story called 'Behind the Curtains' which is actually an old story of mind, so if you want to check it out.**

**anyway, don't forget to tell me all about your feelings on this chapter.**

**And I wrote those two one shot called, Those Mistakes of the Past and ALWAYS AND FOREVER. If you have t****ime go check it out and give me your thoughts on it, that would make my day :-)**

**And this chapter is unbeta-ex because it is quite big and I didn't want to exhaust my dear beta. But she's still awesome and she wrote this one shot that you should really check: LOVED-PAST TENSE**

**okay, I think that's it, **

**Anyways, Cassandra Clare owns the Mortal Instruments franchise, everything else is mine.**

**Kiss㈍9 Kiss㈍9 Bang㈝9 Bang㈝9. **


	13. Her Name and His Heart

**To all of you, read this before reading this chapter, updated earlier than expected.**

**So, one of you wrote this: "**She might be the princess, but wouldn't Jace have seen her if so. He spent many time with the King, the King loves him like a son, he would have present his child to his surrogate child, no? Or Jace would have seen her portrait somewhere in the palace. I don't know. It's weird."

**I think everything is said here. I'll let you cogitate on this one, and here is the latest chapter, enjoy:**

**.**

"Don't you think it feels weird for the General to kiss someone without a tongue?" Raphael asked Simon in a very low voice, not aware of Jace standing in retreat behind them.

Jace was perfectly aware of the rumours that started flying about him and 'the mute', ever since they established camp**,** but somehow, he couldn't find it in his heart to really care. The girl made him feel different, and this was something he liked enough to not care about what his soldiers thoughts on his sexuality. He was still a good general, and this all that should matter to his soldiers.

Deep inside of him, Jace knew that this feeling that he swore to himself to never to never feel, was growing stronger each minute that he spent with the girl. And to his biggest surprise, Jace was ready and willing to fall for it. He didn't want to fight whatever the girl was making him feel. He just wanted to feel it. Because it was making him feel alive and finally unique. Like he mattered to at least someone.

"I don't think the General puts his tongue in the mute's mouth, if you get my drift." Simon replied with a smirk, and the two men lowly snickered to the dirty joke, making Jace repress himself from smirking.

Suddenly, the girl appeared in front of the two men, completely oblivious of the conversation that she just interrupted, and she sat in front of them, bowing a little her head as a greeting. Once she had her legs crossed, she made appear from under her cloak a bowl of red berries and settled it in front of her, her eyes looking for something around her.

"Hmm, berries." Simon said of pleasure, reaching his hand to grab some. But the girl swiftly wrapped her hand on his arm, vigorously shaking her head. Simon frowned for a second before he gently pointed out: "You need to learn to share, kiddo."

The girl rolled her eyes and brought her hands to her covered neck to show Simon that he would die if he ate any of those berries. Simon formed a 'O' with his mouth as he understood, and the girl grabbed a stone to crush the berries in her bowl. Once the mixture became a thick paste, she dipped the tip of her arrows in it, one by one.

"That's vile." Simon said with a shudder, and Raphael strongly nodded his approval. "Poison is the weapon of women and cowards. You shouldn't mix it with something as noble as archery."

Jace saw the girl raise an eyebrow, obviously boiling to retort something smart to Simon, and he decided to go and help her voice her thoughts. But before he could make a single step to the small group, Jordan beat him to it and strode over the three soldiers, only to sit next to the girl as he sternly said:

"Simon … You shouldn't be insulting someone holding a bowl of poison and deadly arrows in his hands. Do I have to remind you what he did with his bow last month?"

Simon shuddered once again, and got up, along with Raphael. Jace wondered what the girl could have done to impress his soldiers like that during his month of captivity. He was about to walk to the girl and Jordan, when Jordan leaned to her and whispered something in her ear. The girl bluntly got up, her brows knotted, and Jordan slowly followed her up, only to tower over her. They stared at one another for a few seconds, and then, Jordan shook his head, murmuring something to her so low that Jace couldn't hear it.

But whatever he told her, the girl nodded, and she walked to the woods, disappearing in the shadows of the trees. Jace followed her there, but instead of finding his girl, he found Alexander who was looking at him with reprehension: "Be careful, General. The men are starting to suspect something."

"No. They just think that I have a thing for young and small mutes."

"Well, you should stop this nonsense and prove them wrong." Alexander snapped, not the slightest amused by Jace's joke. Jace stared at his lieutenant for a second, and then he strongly retorted:

"I have nothing to prove to _them_."

If anything, he only had to prove himself to the girl. To prove her that the small rumours about them would not scare him away. Alexander looked at Jace with disbelief before he pointed out:

"You never would said that a month ago. We were always your top priority when we were to war. She changed you. And you'll regret it at some point, because you'll either lose her, either lose that high esteem you have if yourself."

"You've always been a pessimist." Was Jace's only answer because a small part of him knew that Alexander was right. The girl did change his sense of priorities, and it was going beyond his soldiers and Jace's duty toward them. The girl became more important to Jace than the King. The dream he made after the attack kept on reminding him that. Night after night, Jace made that dream again, and he was so accustomed by it now, that he knew every single detail of it. Like the fact that the frightening girl used the King's sword to kill Jace's delicate and sweet girl. Like the fact that his innocent girl was wearing a gown, when the demon girl was naked. Like the fact that his heart always broke when the girl had her last breath in his arms.

Alexander used Jace's moment of silence to continue his rightful rant: "What do you think will happen when we will get back to the kingdom and what you did to her will be revealed. Do you know what is expected from girls at the Palace? They're not like the girls from town."

"I know what I'm doing, Alexander." Jace wearily replied, not wanting to talk to his lieutenant about things he still didn't talk to with her.

"_Do you_? And do you know that girls from the Palace are supposed to be _virgins_ when they get married?"

"I do. But her virginity is none of your concern, just like with whom she will get married." Jace sternly said, cutting short the conversation by raising his hand when the girl appeared in the distance.

.

**~.o.O.o.~**

.

Jace let his fingers trace the girl's pale skin, and she stirred a little in her sleep as the wind gently rose and blew on them. Jace kissed her forehead and promptly brought his cloak to her naked shoulders in order to protect her from the cold, and then he looked up at the dancing leaves of the apple tree they were sleeping under.

He couldn't wait for this mission to be over so they would be back to the Morgenstern kingdom, where he would find General Graymark and ask him his daughter's hand. Jace was fully intending on marrying this girl, and have children with her, and travel the world with her like she wanted to do. And in order to do so, they just needed to carry off this endless mission. Then Jace would have her as his wife, under the King's benediction.

"_So, I heard you're not marrying Kaelie." The King said as Jace was watching the portraits of the new heirs and heiress of the narrowing kingdoms._

_"Kaelie and I had never been a thing." Jace reminded the King before he added: "Beside, I don't think I'll ever marry someone. This kind of … _lifestyle_ doesn't suit me, nor my social rank."_

_"You're a General, now Jace. Your social rank is not something that will stop you from finding a girl. The only thing that will is your heart." King Valentine kindly said, and Jace repressed himself from retorting that he liked his heart just the way it was. The King knowingly smiled before he added:_

"_Just wait until you meet this girl that will make your heart stop. Then, we'll pursue this conversation, and maybe then you'll finally accept the commodities that I always wanted to give you. If not for you, for her."_

The girl moved in her sleep, blinking a little before she looked up to Jace. When her green eyes met his golden ones, she smiled of delight, which made Jace lean in to steal her a kiss. Her smile lingered a few more seconds on her lips before she asked him: "Is everything alright?"

"Of course, everything is alright. Why shouldn't it be?" Jace asked, and the girl retook possession of his chest by resting her head in it.

"Your heart was beating incredibly fast. What were you thinking of so hard?"

"You." Jace said, and he smirked when he felt her cheek burn his torso. Slowly he trailed her arm up to her face, and then he made her look at him as he gently said: "You know, you're going to have to tell me your name, someday."

The girl tensed a little before she mischievously smiled and said: "Why don't you try to guess it?"

"Because there are way too many names for me to find it." Jace explained, implicitly telling her that he wouldn't drop the issue this time. He was growing tired of referring to her as 'the girl', and he just wanted to know the name of the woman he loved. He wasn't asking for much. Her name. Nothing more than her name.

"I told you, I don't really like my full name." The girl said in a low murmur as she looked down, and Jace made them both sit up before he cupped her face and told her:

"I'm not going to call you the mute for much longer."

"Then you'll have to find another nickname. We could think about it now, or we could…" She trailed, her fingers playing with the muscles of his chest, and Jace rolled them so he would be on top of her. She gasped a little, biting her lower lip of anticipation, and Jace leaned to slowly kiss her collarbone. She moaned when his hand took a hold on her breast, but then Jace whispered in her ear:

"As much as this option seems appealing, your name is still more interesting."

"Jace …" She started with an exasperate tone, and Jace rolled on the side, pointing out:

"_See_? I can't even reply with your name and that very annoyed tone you just used."

"How about we make a deal?" She proposed, rolling on her stomach and leaning on her elbows so she could stare at Jace. "I'll tell you my name when we'll be back in the kingdom?"

"You're not expecting to come back. And we both know it." Jace sternly said, not liking how empty her promise just sounded. Deep inside him, he knew that she would come back to the kingdom, he would personally make sure that she would because he wanted to make her his bride. But _she_ didn't know that, and Jace knew that she never pictured herself as leaving the Graymark kingdom. So, in a way, she just promised Jace to never tell him her name.

"Why do you keep on refusing me your name?" He suddenly asked, a slight anger rising in him, and the girl murmured with a poor and pained voice:

"Because you wouldn't look at me the same. I don't want you to look at me, or treat me differently."

"Why would I do that? Because you're from the Palace? Because your father has a high rank? I don't care about that. I only care about _you_. _Just you_."

She didn't utter a single word before she got up and gathered her clothes: "I should leave. I can't give you what you want."

"You can't give me your name?" Jace cried out, not believing that she was so stubborn in refusing to him her name. The girl sadly shook her head, putting her clothes in as she said:

"Among other things. We shouldn't have let ourselves give in to our urges like that. It was a mis_"

"Don't you _dare_ say this word." Jace growled in a low and threatening murmur, and the girl finished dressing up before she left their magical spot and said:

"I'm sorry."

.

**~.o.O.o.~**

.

Jace stayed all night long and most of the morning under the apple tree, wondering why she was acting like that. And how come he was the eldest one between the two of them, and she was the one acting the most sense? On a military point of view, what she did last night was completely understandable. She cut down her feelings to concentrate on the mission. But when it came to her, Jace didn't want to be military, he just wanted to be human. And humanly, he just wanted to hold her and know her name. Jace had the feeling that if she kept on refusing to tell him her name, it was because it would make them even more intimate. And that she was scared of that.

Shortly before midday, Jace came back to camp where he found the girl and Magnus fighting, both holding two sabres, and the girl having a fierce expression gleaming in her green eyes. Every day ever since they established camp, the girl confronted Mark and Magnus to manage their damaged arms, and every day she beat them to the ground after challenging their injured shoulder as much as she estimated it necessary.

Suddenly, Magnus disarmed the girl and pinned her on the floor, and Jace made a small and imperceptible move toward his belt where he always held his dagger. He knew that Magnus wouldn't hurt her, but instinctively, Jace's first thought was to protect her from any sort of arm.

The girl didn't seem nevertheless destabilised, and with an incredible dexterity, she brought her knee to Magnus's head and knocked him with it. Then she swiftly used his brief moment of destabilisation to make them roll and once on top of him, she drew a dagger from her belt, putting it on Magnus's throat. The two of them exchanged a long and meaningful look, clearly saying through their eyes things that they couldn't say out loud, and then the girl swiftly got up.

Her eyes lingered on Jace a brief second before she turned to Mark and signalled him that it was his turn to practice. Mark grimaced, mostly because he was getting tired of being beaten down by that ridiculous small soldier, but he still walked inside the ring of soldier.

"I'll take you, today." Suddenly Jace said in a blunt instinct, placing himself between the girl and Mark, and Mark gladly rejoined his comrades, hoping that the General would finally give the mute the beat down that no one managed to give him.

The girl didn't say anything, her eyes blank of expression as she turned her back to him in order to pick her sabres from the ground. Then she gave one of them to Magnus, and made her sabre roll in her hand as she faced Jace again. Jace kept his eyes steady in hers as he retrieved his cloak and also he drew his sword, putting himself in the attacking position.

They both stayed steady on their positions, each refusing to be the first one attacking, and after two interminable minutes, the girl seemed tired to have him make a move toward her. She ran to him, just to swirl on herself at the last moment when their blades where supposed to meet, finding herself behind Jace, her dagger drawn and on his glottis.

The soldiers started commenting on how unusual it was for their general to be defeated like that, especially in the blink of an eye, and Jace strongly wrapped his hand around her wrist before he twisted it so she would drop the blade. Then he turned in himself, his sword ready to decapitate her, and as he knew she would, the girl made the blade of her sabre kiss the blade of her sword.

They both fought, none of them ever having the advantage, even though Jace could swear that she could have killed him in more than one occasion. And then, Jace found himself in the same position that he had been by the river bank. She had him, Jace knew that she would defeat him by using her special move that her father taught her, but she didn't. She dropped her sabre on purpose, even though it seemed from any outsider point of view that Jace made her do so, and Jace stepped back, staring at her with disbelief. She was letting him win, when they both knew that she could have killed him in one single movement.

"You're not fighting! You're playing with me like a cat with a mouse. Do you think I can't handle being beaten down by _you_?"

The girl stayed silent, but Magnus stepped forward to defend her: "Maybe he doesn't want to humiliate a General in front of his troops."

Jace glared at Magnus with as much animosity as Magnus was glaring at him. The two men started having a silent conversation, in which Magnus was telling Jace to back off, but Jace only replied out loud: "Or maybe he just keeps on running away from the obvious. He could have killed me five times, and he never did. Is this how you raise the persons under your protection, Bane? Do you teach them to fake and run away from any real involvement?"

Jace knew that it had more to do with what happened between the girl and him last night, than the fight, but her unfazed eyes only managed to make him even angrier. He just wanted to be with her. And in order to do so, he needed her name. He couldn't marry a nameless person!

"_General_." Alexander said with a warning voice as an awkward silence was growing along the soldiers. Jace noticed the way a few of them were looking from him to the mute with incomprehension, but he was too consumed by anger to be the bigger man and walk away.

"_No_! I want to be able to rely on each of my soldiers. What kind of soldier manages their general when we both know that he has the upper hand? Who does he think I am? Some little girl that needs to have her feelings managed?"

The girl didn't blink a single time as Jace let his anger out on her, but when Jace started attacking her gender, she slightly narrowed her eyes at him before she turned on her heels and started walking away.

"I am talking to you! Don't turn your back on me! You being mute doesn't give you the right to be insubordinate! You will finish this fight and not pretend that you are weaker than you actually a_" But Jace never had the opportunity to finish his rant against her.

As she had kept on walking away, the girl had quickly yanked away from Simon's hands her bow that she had given to him before the fight, picking an arrow in the same time, and she shot it at Jace, twirling on herself in order to do so. The arrow passed so close to Jace's face that it cut a few of his hair, and then it went to plant itself in the tree behind him. All the soldiers gasped at this, but the girl didn't seem to care, her gaze hard on Jace as she walked back to him and strongly put the bow in Jace's hands. Then, she raised her right hand and slowly fisted it before she stuck her thumb out and pointed it toward the floor, signalling Jace that he was dead.

The two of them stared at one another for a long minute before the girl looked away and pointed Mark with her finger for him to fight with her, as he had been supposed to do before Jace's intervention.

.

**~.o.O.o.~**

.

Jace played with an apple in his hands, his thoughts lost in the mess he was in. At this precise moment, he would have given anything to be with his King and ask him advises in the matter of women. He couldn't understand the anger he saw in her eyes when she silently told him that he was dead. And he couldn't understand what was so wrong in giving her name and admitting therefore her feelings for him. Did she even have feelings for him?

Jace thought so because she always smiled when she saw him, and she blushed when he would sweetly talked to her, and she would tell him about her dreams of seeing giant black cats. But maybe he was wrong. Maybe she didn't feel anything for him. He couldn't know, Jace never allowed himself to think of those kind of things before.

Suddenly, Magnus appeared in Jace's vision, and he told him with panic: "We have a problem. She's gone."

"_What_?" Jace cried out, swiftly getting up, and Magnus elaborated:

"She left to the Garroway Kingdom on her own."

"Is she _nuts_?" Jace exclaimed, wondering how she could believe she could take a kingdom down all by herself. Jace wasn't even sure to do it with sixty men, so a little single minute girl like her … "When is the last time you saw her?"

"When you accused her in front of the while regiment to be a coward and a liar." Magnus said, his tone extremely accusatory, but Jace couldn't bring himself to care. He pressed Magnus back to camp as he told him:

"_Damn it!_ We're leaving in ten minutes."

.

**~.o.O.o.~**

**.**

**Haha, cliffies, cliffies. **

**So jace is believed to be gay? Clary and him had a fight! And now she's gone. Haha, I love my life (yeah, I'm an evil meanie, but you knew that already!) **

**what did you think of it? What do you think will happen? I could keep on talking but it's pretty late, and work I have tomorrow (I'm talking in Yoda here, haha) so yeah, hope you enjoyed it, and don't forget to check Pintereste to see the King's sword.**

**And i started this story called 'Behind the Curtains' which is actually an old story of mind, so if you want to check it out.**

**anyway, don't forget to tell me all about your feelings on this chapter.**

**And I wrote those two one shot called, Forgive me father, for I have sinned, & Dear My Love. If you have t****ime go check it out and give me your thoughts on it, that would make my day :-)**

**okay, I think that's it, **

**Anyways, Cassandra Clare owns the Mortal Instruments franchise, everything else is mine.**

**Kiss㈍9 Kiss㈍9 Bang㈝9 Bang㈝9. **


	14. The Garroway Castle

**So, mmany said that I was a big meanie because of the last cliffie. And to be honest, I am a big meanie, because cliffies are my babies! I love them, I always love them, forever. But see, a little nice side of me appeared in a holly light, and chased away my darkness to make me update soon. **

**So enjoy:**

**.**

Precisely ten minutes after Magnus's and Jace's discovery about the girl being missing, they were riding in the woods with Jordan's squad. They were officially going as scouts, when all Jace could think about was finding the girl. He was as worried as Magnus about her disappearance, because it wasn't making any sense.

Even though Jace had been openly and irrationally harsh on her, there was no reason for her to take off like that. _Especially_ when they were only a few miles away from the Garroway castle. _Especially_ when Magnus seemed to think that she would try to do something reckless in that castle.

"_We have to find her before she reaches the castle." Magnus said, his voice going incredibly high as worry was starting to take over him._

_"I know." Jace snapped, wondering what could have gone through her head. Why did she decide to go in her own to the castle when she had been the one telling him to impose his force to King Luke?_

"_You don't understand." Magnus snapped back with anger. "We have to get her before she penetrates those walls, or all of this would have been for nothing. It might even turn into a bloody and awfully long war."_

_"She won't kill him, if that's what you're worried about." Jace assured Magnus as he prepared his horse. "I gave her orders to not commit regicide."_

_"Your orders mean nothing to her. She came with a much higher hierarchy than you." Magnus snarled with that attitude that Jace hated so much, and Jace repressed himself from asking what kind of hierarchy could a girl have over him._

_Though he was curious, he knew that Magnus was always doing his best to make him think less about himself when it came to the girl. And despite, all that mattered to Jace at this moment was to find the girl back._

And now Jace was impatiently waiting for Magnus to come back, with her behind him. Magnus and him had decided to race to the edge of the forest where they could see the castle, and there, Magnus would go look for them as Jace and his men would survey the castle.

Magnus had been extremely worked up by the fact that she didn't take her horse, or the sabre her father gave her, and Jace could completely understand why. This was the proof that she wasn't planning on coming back. She left on a suicide mission.

As his men were resting their horses, looking at the castle illuminated in the rising night, Jace started nervously passing though his squad, wondering what he would do if she wasn't found before sunrise. He couldn't let her kill the enemy, King Valentine had asked Jace to spare his foe's life. The only solution left to him was to beat her to it and assault the castle himself, with the small amount of men he had with him. Which was actually sounding more and more rational to Jace.

After interminable minutes, hearing his men analyse every exterior aspect of the castle, Jordan appeared from the woods and discreetly hailed Jace, making him realise that his adjuvant had disappeared as soon as they stopped riding.

"General." He said with a very low whisper, waving Jace to come to him. "Can you come for a second?"

Reluctantly, Jace followed Jordan to a secluded area of the forest where he found the girl, in girl's traveling clothes, laying on the grass. Jace rushed to her in the blink of an eye, checking her pulse on her delicate throat as he anxiously asked:

"_What happened_?"

"I knocked her out." Jordan simply said, scratching the back of his head with discomfort as Jace snapped his head with shock and anger boiling in him:

"_What_?"

"She was heading to the castle." Jordan defended himself with a very squeaky voice, shrinking away under Jace's hard gaze. But he still went on: "_On her own_. In the open."

Jace looked back at the girl, uncloaking himself to cover her against the cold brisk of wind, but repressing himself from caressing her face. He didn't want Jordan to see this side of him. This intimacy that he allowed himself to fall in with the girl was something only she and he should share.

"Tell her I'm really sorry." Jordan said, clearly feeling bad for knocking her out to numbness. "_Really_. I just didn't have another choice. She wouldn't listen to me. She was ready to go in that castle, _alone_. Without anyone to protect her. She just _"

"For how long have you known?" Jace harshly asked, cutting short Jordan's rumbling. He knew something was off with the way Jordan talked or looked at 'the mute', and now he knew why. Jordan knew all along about her true nature.

"Since the battle." Adjuvant Kyle confessed. "I had my doubts about her for a few months now. But, when I heard that girl's scream during our last battle, I knew."

"You're aware of a girl's presence in your ranks, and you don't alert your officer?" Jace angrily asked, wondering how many more of his officers were going to defy martial laws like that?

"I knew that you knew. Why would have you kept a close watch on her, and allow those rumours to grow in our ranks. _Why_, if not to protect her and her secret?" Jordan simply replied, as if this was the smartest thing in the world, and Jace registered somewhere in his mind that Jordan only thought that Jace was protecting the girl. He never considered them as really being lovers.

"Stay with her. I need to check if Magnus came back."

.

**~.o.O.o.~**

.

Jace looked at his girl with tenderness, his heart racing at what his was about to tell her. She was going to hate him forever, but he couldn't care less. She would be alive, and it was all that mattered.

After longly planning it with his soldiers, Jace had decided to assault the castle in the early hours with the very few men he had, sneaking in the castle just before dawn so they would be able to catch King Luke by surprise. And even though it annoyed him to cut himself off a valorous soldier like Jordan, Jace didn't find any other solution. He needed someone to warn the men back in camp to start marching toward the castle. And he needed someone to bring the girl back to camp.

Magnus could have done it, but Jace knew he would need Magnus as a politician once in the castle. And he didn't want to trust the girl with any other soldier. Jordan was good because he already knew her secret and he would protect it for her.

As the girl was still unconscious, Jace slightly shook her up, at least to insure himself that she Jordan didn't hit her too hard. She slowly opened her eyes, sitting up with the same slowness and looking everywhere around her.

"What happened?" She asked, before narrowing her eyes at him and pursuing: "What are _you_ doing here?"

"Don't _ever_ do that to me again." Jace told her, yanking her in his ams to hug her in a crushing embrace. He strongly kissed her hair as he heard her swallow hardly; and he held her a little tighter, relished to have her safe and sound in his arms.

"Jace_" She started with a reasoning tone, but Jace cut her off, swiftly kissing her lips before he scowled her:

"First of all, you _cannot_ take a kingdom on your own. Second, what if something happened to you?! Did you think about that? Did you think of Magnus, or your father? Did you think of _me_?"

The girl looked down to her knees, and Jace slightly heaved, uncomfortable with the idea of having been so straightforward with her when he still didn't know where she stood. He waited for her to apologise or try to argue her point of view, but she kept her eyes stubbornly down.

Jace gently stroke her cheek, thinking of what he was planning to do with her, and on how she was going to hate it. But … he loved her, and he didn't want her to be anywhere near him when he'd assault the Garroway castle. As his heart was starting to reach an incredible speed, Jace considered telling her about his feelings for her, but he didn't want her to think that he was only saying those words because of the risk he was incurring. He meant them, and he wanted her to know that he did. So he would wait until after the attack.

With kindness, he kissed her forehead and informed her of her relocation: "I'm sending you back to camp. With Jordan. He'll protect you. The rest of us will take the castle. You were right, a small number is better."

The girl finally looked up to him, her eyes gleaming with a thousand expressions that Jace couldn't analyse, and she sternly said: "I'm _not_ going back to camp."

"You don't have a choice."

"Is this an order?" She asked, narrowing her eyes at him, and Jace grimaced. She was subtly putting him back in this place he didn't like to be in when he was with her. He didn't want to be her General, but just her man.

"Yes, it is." Jace unwillingly admitted, making her widen her eyes of shock. "This is an order that, as a general, I am giving to the mute. As Jace, I am asking this girl I care so much about to listen to me, and to go back to the safety of camp."

The girl narrowed her eyes at Jace, and so he explained her why he was being so demanding of her: "You're going back because I don't want anything to happen to you."

"Nothing will_"

"You don't know that." Jace cut her off, slightly annoyed by her assurance. Why couldn't she just see how dangerous it could be for her?

"You don't know if tomorrow will turn into a bloodbath. You don't know if you'll get hurt, or worse. You think you have all your life before you, but that's because you're young and that you've never seen war. I am not giving you a choice. I am sending you back to camp."

"I will make Jordan come back. He owes it to me, he knocked me out." She childishly retorted, crossing her arms over her chest, and Jace shook his head with a gentle, knowing that she would have said that.

"I already gave him strict orders to bring you back to camp." He informed her, and the girl stared at him with betrayal before she swiftly got up. Jace did the same, a little more slowly, and when she started walking away, Jace wrapped his hand around her wrist as he told her: "I know you hate me right now, but I can't take the risk of losing you."

"You _can't_ deny me the Garroway castle!" She cried out, completely panicked, and Jace only swallowed hardly as he pointed out:

"I just did."

He saw how she was doing her best to keep her tears in, and a corner of his mind wondered why it was so important for her to be part of this raid they were planning on the Garroway castle. But he swiftly dismissed this thought and kissed her forehead with love and care as he assured her:

"I will see you in a few days. Just go back to camp, and then, we will go see your giant black cats."

"Jace?" She said with a really small voice, tilting her head up to look at him in the eyes. Jace gently smiled to her, stroking her cheek as she hesitantly said: "I… I wish that we met differently."

Jace frowned, liking perfectly the way they met, but before he could say anything, she passionately kissed him silently asking him with her body to make this night count for them. He kissed her back, tangling his fingers in her hair and making tackling her against the nearest tree before lifting her up in his arms. Jace put through this kiss all those things that he didn't tell her, yet. All those things that she made him what to feel. All those hopes and dreams he was building on her.

Before the kiss got too heated, Jace reminded himself the presence of his soldiers in a radius of a few feet, and he broke their passionate kiss. The girl rested her forehead on his chest for a brief instance before she broke their embrace and started walking away.

Jace deeply breathed out before he walked back to camp, signalling Jordan that he should go after her. Jordan was just passing by him when Jace strongly held his arm and said in a very low growl: "Make sure that she goes back to camp, even if you have to knock her out again."

.

**~.o.O.o.~**

.

"Are you sure about this, Wayland?" Magnus asked through his gritted teeth as Jace was silently placing all his soldiers in tactful places in the Throne Chamber, and Jace repressed a heave.

Shortly after he made sure that Jordan and the girl were going in the right direction, Jace and his men sneaked inside the castle, using one of the window's tower. And now they were next to the throne, waiting for the King to come preside here, before they would make him surrender to peace.

Jace looked at the window to study the course of the sun, as Magnus grumbled under his breath that it had been too easy. Jace rolled his eyes, thinking that Magnus was nothing more than a politician after all, and he estimated that his troops should be there in an hour or two, if Jordan went straight to camp to deliver Jace's instructions to Alexander.

Suddenly, the doors opened and revealed King Luke, followed by five of his guards. Jace silently signalled his men to stay hidden in the shadows, and he waited for the door to be free of men to close it loudly. King Luke jumped a little, turning only to face Jace drawing his sword at him. The monarch glanced at the sword with irony before he longly looked at Jace's face, looking for something Jace didn't get as his soldiers were now surrounded by Jace's.

"For a bastard, you look nothing like him." King Luke placidly said as his only form of greeting, and Jace repressed himself from rolling his eyes. This was a common rumour that he was the King's bastard, and that this was why the King took him in. But somewhere in his heart, Jace never believed those rumours to be true.

"For a King, you look nothing kingly." Jace snapped back, making King Luke narrow his eyes at Jace and his defiance. Then, his eyes lingered on each of Jace's soldiers, clearly looking for someone.

"I was told you were more numerous." The monarch said with a slight disappointment in his voice, and Jace gently weighted up his sword, subtely reminding King Luke of its presence near the monarch's throat.

"You've been wrong informed."

"I know for a fact that there's at least one person missing from your troops." King Luke argued, looking pointedly to Jace. But Jace didn't reply anything, knowing that Luke was clearly referring to the girl and to the fact that she had been spotted in this very castle.

The room grew silent as everyone was trying to know their enemy's next move, and after long minutes of intense staring, the Garroway sovereign nonchalantly asked Jace:

"How do you think Valentine will react when I'll send him your head?"

"By the time one of those soldiers reaches me, I'd have planted my sword on your chest." Jace threatened, holding his sword a little bit more tightly. Then he clarified their situation: "I came here on the behalf of my King to negotiate peace with you."

"No, you didn't. "King Luke snapped, his voice still even and low. "You're an army man. You do not negotiate peace, you _conquer_ it. And I will not be conquered."

"Then negotiate with me." Said the much recognisable voice of the girl. Jace turned his unbelieving face to the door where she was standing, a man by her side that Jace recognised as the Prince Velrac, and her bow tightly gripped in her hands.

She walked inside the room with determination and power, her eyes steady on King Luke as Jace was trying to not lose it against her. She deliberately defied his orders, and came back to the castle. And what was she doing with Prince Sebastian by her sides?

"Drop your weapons." The girl ordered with a strong and demanding voice, and every soldiers (foe or not) seemed slightly confused to be given orders by this small woman. Finally, the girl detached her eyes from the monarch, and she let her green emeralds wander of the soldiers, her eyes clearly avoiding Jace's when they should have met.

"I said, drop your weapons." She repeated with even more strength, and all the men put their swords back in their sheath. Jace was still trying to catch her eyes when King Luke said:

"Is this how your father taught you how to negotiate. Going to kill off your enemy in his own home."

"You _will_ listen to what I have to say." The girl said with authority, and King Luke laughed at her, signalling one of his men to walk to her as he replied:

"And why should I do that? You're the perfect prisoner for me. Give me one reason to not take you right now."

Jace tightened his grip on the handle his sword, but the girl only smirked, arching her bow in a lightening speed and pointing it in King Luke's direction. The Prince beside her didn't seem even bothered by her action, too busy casting away with his eyes the soldier who was trying to get to her.

"Because unlike the General Wayland, I never received any instructions to spare your life." The girl replied, stretching her bow a little more as she was obviously aiming at his head. "My father is a great man, but even _he_ has his limits."

Her father? _Her father_? But her father never ordered Jace to spare King Luke. It was the King who did so. The King … had a daughter named Clarissa, (like almost all the girls born the year after her birth) even though he rarely used this name to refer to her. And as he was doing his best to deny the truth of her lineage, everything came rushing to Jace's ears.

_"You shouldn't have touched her." Said Alexander. "I know her. She is from the Palace. You should forget about her."_

_"You're playing a dangerous game." Said Magnus. "She's no usual sixteen years old girl. How many girl do you know willing to literally do anything for their kingdoms?"_

_"The mute seems familiar." Said Mark. "I've seen his eyes somewhere."_

_"Seraphina is growing from a little girl to a woman that fills my heart with the same pride you fill it with." Said the King. "She wasn't supposed to be a girl, she has the mind and the moral strength of a man." "Seraphina will always be my most precious good."_

"Your father is a thief!" Jace was snapped out of his trance by King Luke shouting with anger, exactly in the same time as Prince Velrac said:

"You _can't_ kill him!"

"Can't I? Royalty killing royalty had never been considered as regicide. Just as politics. He threatened my household, my people, my family. He made my life a living Hell from the day I was born. He made me hate my m_ Just give me one reason not to kill him." The girl said with a small heave, closing one of her eyes and tilting her head to have a better aim.

"He's my Godfather. I'm asking you not to kill him. Beside you didn't come to do that." She lowered her bow with a small smile before she said to King Luke:

"I came because what my father refused you, all those years ago, I am willing to give it to you, today."

"Leave us." The King ordered, and his men left as he walked to sit on his throne. The Prince whispered something in the girl's ear, and she nodded, making him also leave the room. Now it was only the King, the girl and Jace's men. The King seemed to noticed too because he snarled:

"Some peace negotiations you're making. Me against armed men standing behind you. How do I know you won't order one of your mad dog to kill me."

"Don't insult my men. But you're right." She raised a hand and dismissed the soldiers: "Leave us."

The soldiers glanced at Jace, and he slightly nodded, allowing them to leave. But Jace stayed steady, his eyes fixed on his girl's back. _The Princess_. He noticed how King Luke's lingered on him with suspicion, but he couldn't really care, his eyes were fixated on the Princess's back.

"General." She said with a warning tone, and Jace made a step toward her. But she stopped him by raising her hand again, her back still facing him: "I said, leave us."

"Prin_"

"_That's an order_!" She cut him off with an unsuspected authority. Jace tightened his jaw, not liking the slightest in the world to leave her alone with that king, but he still did as she ordered him to, feeling this irony is her words as she said them. After all, he did order her to go back the same way as she was asking him to do so.

Jace was about to close the door, not liking how the King was suddenly so close to her, when the Princess said, smiling to her enemy: "And General? As we are here to politically settle this argument, Magnus is the one in charge as long as we are within those walls."

.

**~.o.O.o.~**

**.**

**MOuhahahahahahahaha, cliffies, cliffies. Well, you wanted to know who she was, here it is! Kiark kiark kiark .**

**and Jace who was so about to tell her that he loved her. Mouhahahahahah (I'm losing it, it's 4am here) I'll definitely put pictures of this chapter on Pinterest.**

**what did you think of Jordan? And Sebastian? And king Luke? Argh, what did you think? Tell me all, make me smile with your reviews (I did update soon)**

**And i started this story called 'Behind the Curtains' which is actually an old story of mind, so if you want to check it out.**

**anyway, don't forget to tell me all about your feelings on this chapter.**

**And I wrote those two one shot called, Forgive me father, for I have sinned, & Dear My Love. If you have t****ime go check it out and give me your thoughts on it, that would make my day :-)**

**okay, I think that's it, **

**Anyways, Cassandra Clare owns the Mortal Instruments franchise, everything else is mine.**

**Kiss㈍9 Kiss㈍9 Bang㈝9 Bang㈝9. **


	15. The Two Apple-Boys

**So, this is the part that the fans of this story will rejoiced. I will focus on this story (and this story only, until it's finished. Meaning that the only other story I will update is Not Another Teen Story when my beta will send it back to me.**

**dont worry, I'm still working on the other stories, but the editing is always very long, and I have this crazy thing called 'writing my own novel' going on. That plus life. So yeah, I will go story by story, but I'm still planning on spaming you with oneshots every now and then.**

**dont hate me, I'm just trying not to die and update every time at godforsaken hours.**

**on a brighter notes, the images of this chapters will be on Pinterest. **

**So enjoy:**

**. (For those who don't want to do the maths, Jace is 23, and Clary 13 in this flashback)**

"_Is everything alright, your Majesty?" Jace asked as the King seemed deeply lost in the reading of his letter. King Valentine rolled up his letter and kindly smiled to Jace:_

_"Seraphina is driving the Velrac Queen crazy, and I think that she's enjoying this too much. I might have given her too much freedom."_

_The Princess had gone to the Velrac castle with Prince Sebastian, two months ago. After four years of training the little Prince, Jace had finally been released of this burden, and the Prince went back to his castle, bringing the Princess (escorted by General Graymark and Magnus) with him for the summer. Jace noticed how the King was touched by his daughter's absence, the proof being that the King spent a lot more time with him, but he didn't pointed it out. On the contrary, he often tried to make the King forget that his daughter was away by talking about everything and nothing with his monarch. _

_"Or maybe the Princess hopes that the Queen will get tired of her and send her back to you sooner." Jace reasoned, feeling that this was something the Princess would do. Though he haven't seen her in twelve years, the depiction the King made of her made her someone rebellious, but who loved her father deeply. _

_"That does seems like her." The King thoughtfully replied, his eyes lost into space. Then he looked in Jace's eyes and told him: "How odd it is that you know each other so well, when you never met one another."_

_"Is this a subtle way to ask me to come to the Palace?" Jace asked with a quirked eyebrow, and the King sadly smiled as he said:_

_"Not so subtle, apparently. And you're probably going to tell me that you don't want to come and befriend with your next sovereign, because it might cloud your judgement in critical situations."_

_"You know me too well, Sire." Jace conceded, because this was exactly what he was going to say. King Valentine sighed and rectified:_

_"I don't. I still hope that you'll come live in the Palace with us. Seraphina is the one who said that you'd react like that. See for yourself."_

_Jace took the letters and let his eyes wander in the search of his name for he didn't want to pry into the King and his daughter's correspondence. But from the few words his eyes caught here and there, the Princess was deeply missing her father and her kingdom. And there, he found the phrase referring to him, though she didn't use his name: _

_'[…] Of course you would send Apple-boy after me, and I would be prevented by his forceful arms to ever see those giant black cats. Which is quite unfair. Lucian got to see them, I'm sure you will send Apple-boy in a few years so you can trade with the Persians, so why am I the one be stuck in staying in this boring land? No matter the kingdom I go to, the scenery is still the same. I wish I were Apple-boy. _

_Then, I'd fight wars with my mighty sword and my stern face, and I'd tell my King things such as 'I cannot come live with you, Sire. I don't want to befriend with my future Leech. This might lead to future complications if war is to come within our walls.' I'm sure he already told you something similar. And after, you say I am unfriendly? I am a jester next to him, father. I think your love for him is blinding you. Did you actually ever see him smile? _

_Seb said that he doesn't even shows pain. It's like he _really_ is an apple. Without emotions. You should see Seb when he mimics him. It's hilarious. Last night, we were …'_

_Jace stopped reading at this point, feeling that the Princess went on another topic and he looked at the King with a small smile: "There, you saw an apple smile, at least once."_

_The King frankly laughed, shaking his head a little, and Jace gave him back his letter. _

.

**~.o.O.o.~**

.

Jace looked at his soldiers who were expecting him to give instructions, and he closed his eyes to regained control of himself. If he would listen to his instincts -as a man, or as a general- he would go back to the Throne Chamber at this right moment. But like the _Princess_ said, she was here to _politically_ settle this endless war.

Jace opened back his eyes and signalled Raphael to come to him, his brain racing on the best tactic to have. He needed to think of his men, but he also needed to think of the Princess and of the protection that should be insured on her within foe territory.

"You will lead the men back until you meet the Lieutenant." Jace instructed his soldier. "There, you will tell him to settle camp at the spot where we let our horses rest yesterday night. It's far enough to not be considered as a threat, but close to make King Luke think twice before he does anything stupid. And as soon as you see Kyle, you send him to me."

"_No_." Magnus said, stepping closer to the two military men, and Jace repressed himself on shushing him and sending him back to camp with the others. Magnus looked deeply in Jace's eyes, as he explained: "You can't have two officers within these walls. We are in peace negotiations. Whatever you want to tell Kyle, you'll have to do it outside the castle. Actually, you should go with your soldiers."

"And who would stay here for the Princess's protection? _You_?" Jace snarled. "Are you forgetting that in any negotiations a royal member of the family is to be protected by an officer?"

Magnus deeply and longly stared at Jace before he turned to Raphael and told him: "You should ho, Raphael."

Then, the two men waited to be alone in the corridor to let Magnus rant:

"You're forgetting your place, Wayland. You're forgetting that the King sent you here for peace, along with his daughter. If he loses her, how do you think he will react in also losing the man he considers as his son?"

Jace was about to invoke protocol again when Magnus's words reached his brain. He narrowed his eyes at the politician and asked: "What do you mean, _if he loses her_?"

"How do Princesses negotiate peace?" Magnus sufficiently said, as if Jace was a five years old. "If she can't negotiate politically with King Luke, what do you think will be her last option?"

Jace paled as Magnus's words started making sense to him. She couldn't give herself to King Luke! There must have been something else behind Magnus's words, and Jace let himself fall in this last hope that he was missing something, as he asked:

"What did the King refused King Luke all those years ago?"

"_Her_. King Luke said that peace would be made if she was to come live in this kingdom to become his wife when she would be of age. But the King refused, and the feud went on."

"What do you mean _his wife_? She _can't_ marry him! She_" Jace cut himself, swallowing his emotions and he continued: "She has her own kingdom to take care of."

"And if she marries him, she won't bring her kingdom." Magnus placidly said, his eyes fixated on Jace and every single one of his reactions. Jace rolled his eyes and mocked Magnus for the stupidly of his last statement:

"That's ridiculous. The King doesn't have any other heir."

"Hence the getting you back safely to the Kingdom. Why do you think I risked my life for you? It wasn't for your pretty eyes. It was because the King expects you to take over his Kingdom, if the worst is to come."

.

**~.o.O.o.~**

.

Jace was waiting in the room he knew was attributed to the Princess, trying to not feel anything. He still couldn't believe that she was the Princess. That she was the Princess, and that she made him fall in love with her for nothing. How could have she not tell him when he found out? How could have she let him touch her the way he did? How could have she made him feel so right, when she knew it was so wrong?

And the more he thought of all those moments they shared together, the more Jace realised that a small voice tried to warn him. Especially after her tale where she clearly told him that the Lady ran away with the Prince of another Kingdom. But Jace's refused to acknowledge this part, because it was simpler when she was the General's daughter. He could love her and plan a lifetime with her as the General's daughter, but now …

Suddenly, the door opened, and the Princess _finally_ stepped in, after a day long of negotiations. She looked extenuated, and on the verge to cry, but as soon as she spotted

Jace in her room, she straightened up, narrowing her eyes at him, and regaining the rein of her features.

"What are you doing in my quarters?"

"Insuring your security, _Princess_." Jace said with a irony that didn't go unnoticed by the Princess. The Princess narrowed her eyes to him even more, before she turned her back on him and removed her travelling cloak. As she was doing so, Jace noticed that she didn't have her bow or her spare sabre anymore, and that she was still wearing her travelling clothes. He wondered if she even had time to eat since she entered in negotiations with the Garroway monarch, but the Princess cut him out of his thoughts as she said:

"You don't have to. You can leave."

"Is that what you want?" Jace asked, without being able to stop himself. He saw how her shoulders slumped a little, and so he started walking to her, his body acting on its own accord. The Princess stubbornly kept her back to him as she sighed:

"General_"

"Why didn't you tell me?" Jace snapped, hating that she just put him back at his place with that simple word. "Why did you let me fall … You should have told me."

"I told you it was a mistake." The Princess retorted, finally turning on herself so she could look at Jace, and Jace used this opportunity to know everything about this lie she had imposed him:

"Can you at least tell me why the King didn't tell me that he was sending his daughter that he loves so much, to negotiate peace."

"Because I asked him not to." She answered, making Jace quirked an eyebrow of incomprehension up. "Would you have treated me the same? Would you have listened to me? Would you have trusted me with a weapon?"

"There are things that I would certainly have done differently." Jace admitted with a low growl, and she finally looked down, finally showing some emotions.

Jace was about to forget about his place and her rank to take her in his comforting arms, when someone knocked at her door. The Princess regained her features in a matter of microseconds, and she shouted at the person to enter. Prince Sebastian appeared in the doorframe, and raised an eyebrow at Jace's presence, but then he smiled to the Princess, revealing a green apple in his hand:

"It's winter, and if I recall properly, green apples are your favourites of the season."

"If I recall properly, you almost choked on it." The Princess retorted with a small smile, walking to the Prince and taking the fruit out of his hand as he was softly chuckling. Then he wrapped his arms around her and kissed her hair as he told her:

"I missed you, Clary-Berry."

"I missed you too, Seb." The Princess replied with a smile of delight before she tiptoed herself and pecked his cheek. Jace watched the two royalties break their little embrace, but not stepping back to put a reasonable distance between them, and then the Princess said with a very serious tone:

"We need to talk, Seb."

"About?" The Prince asked, quirking his eyebrow up for the Princess to eat her apple, and the Princess bit on it before she sternly said:

"What you told me this morning."

Sebastian glanced over Jace who still didn't find the courage to move, and finally his brain took back the control of his body as he said: "I'll send a soldier to guard your door, Princess."

"There's no need for that. I can take_" But Jace didn't let her finish as he was already walking out of the door. As he closed it behind him, Jace saw that the Prince was tenderly caressing the Princess's cheek, them being even closer that before.

.

**~.o.O.o.~**

**.**

**See? I can behave? No cliffy. Well, no big cliffy. Maybe I'm getting sick. I should go see a doctor. But what did you think of this chapter? Personally I liked little Clary complaining and mocking Jace. I thought she was funny. **

**What at do you think will happen next? What is Jace going to do? And Clary? I think I unleashed several big questions here. I don't know. I hope.**

**well, I'm off to sleep, it's freaking two in the morning. cheers to you all**

**Anyways, Cassandra Clare owns the Mortal Instruments franchise, everything else is mine.**

**Kiss㈍9 Kiss㈍9 Bang㈝9 Bang㈝9. **


	16. Giant Black Cats

**So, to ****the people who think Clary is being a cold hearted b***, I just want to remind you that she is only 16. That, and she had always been surrounded by boys she pointed that fact on several times. So of course, she doesn't really know stuffs about how girls act with their 'love interest'. And don't forget that Clary and Seb have known each other from a long period of time. And to place it properly for you, remember that Seb came to,the Morgenstern castle when he was 11 and Jace trained him,and stuffs. And for you to not get confused about the ages and stuffs:**

**Clary is 16**

**Jace is 26**

**Sebastian is 19**

**To jeanne, don't think that what you're saying is stupid. I love all criticism, good or bad, as long as it's not meant as something mean and hurtful, and that its constructive. And about the little mistakes, that's mostly because I update at godforsaken hours where I should be sleeping, but I'm such a masochist that I dont.**

**To abc, that was one long review, most of your questions cannot be answer without plot telling everything, but I love the way you really dig into stuffs . **

**So enjoy:**

**. **

As soon as he reached the camp that his men had established at the border of the Garroway forest, Jace instructed three of his best simple soldiers to go back to the castle to insure the Princess's security. Then he informed his men that peace negotiations were in the process, thanks to the Princess who was the mute with whom they spent more than five months with.

Jace saw the shock that washed over his men, even though Blackthorn seemed barely wavered by this information. Jace figured that he must have had his doubts, just like Jordan. The first reaction of the soldiers was too feel embarrassment as many were realising all the dirty jokes they made in front of their monarch's daughter. Simon literally cried out that he bathed in front of her. But what surorised Jace the most was the fact that everyone assumed that he knew, and that it was the reason why he spent so much time with her, to insure her security and her anonymity.

Once the men calmed down about this shocking news, Jace cornered Jordan a little in retreat, and growled with anger and frustration: "What don't you understand in 'make sure she goes back to camp'?"

Jordan slightly stepped back, obviously feeling threatened by Jace's anger, and he replied: "But she _ordered_ me to bring her to the castle. And when I started arguing, saying that I had direct orders from you, she called hierarchy and said that _her_ orders were higher than yours. And then, the Prince showed up."

"The Prince?" Jace asked, rising an eyebrow.

So this was why she entered the Throne Room with Prince Sebastian, because he had been looking for her, which meant that they had been corresponding about her arrival. But then, Jace thought of something that didn't add up. The fact that Velrac soldiers were fighting among marauders at the Garroway border. If the Prince wanted the peace like the Princess, why his soldiers were guarding the frontier as if they were preparing war?

"Yes." Jordan said, feeling more confident now that Jace seemed to have forgotten about the adjuvant overpassing his orders. "He was lurking in the forest, or I don't know. When he came clear to us, the Princess ordered me to go back to camp and bring the troops like you said, and she left with her betrothed."

"You left the King's daughter, _alone_, in his worst enemy territory?" Jace growled, not understanding how Jordan could have been so careless. But then, his last word echoed in Jace's mind, and he narrowed his eyes to his adjuvant as he pointed out: "The Princess doesn't have a betrothed."

If there was one thing that Jace knew about the Princess, it was that she wasn't bound to anyone. The King told Jace, on more than one occasion ,that he always refused to '_sell his daughter to settle political matters_'. Jace knew that many kingdoms asked for her hand, but that the King always systematically refused, saying that he was leaving to his daughter the right to choose with which Prince she would want to spend the rest of her life with. So Jordan's words were completely insane.

"Well, that's what the rumours say," Jordan said with a shrug before he went on: "It's not official, but they'll get married, eventually. I mean, they've always been _really_ close, and why else would the Prince risk defying the powerful man that is his Godfather, if not to please his future wife?"

.

**~.o.O.o.~**

.

Against Magnus's best advises, Jace stayed by the Princess's sides all the time, insuring her security day and night, even when it was obvious that she didn't want, nor need, it; and after a week spent in the Garroway castle, Jace was sure of one thing: the Princess wasn't going to wed King Luke. Magnus told him this much.

Though Jace didn't want to, Magnus informed him of every single political thing happening at the castle, putting on Jace's shoulders an invisible weight. More than once, Jace told Magnus that it was useless of him to try to settle Jace on the path of politics, because the Princess wasn't going to marry King Luke. So there was no need for Jace to take over the kingdom. And yesterday night, after an umpteenth hushed argument in front of her door, Magnus confessed to Jace.

"_Because she's not going back!" Magnus exploded with temper, and Jace deeply stared in the foreigner, waiting for him to explain this ridiculous statement. Of course the Princess was going back. Her kingdom needed her. Her father needed her. _Jace_ needed her._

_Magnus heaved and passed a hand on his face as he told Jace: "This is the deal. The peace will be signed by the two Kings if the Princess agrees to stay here as a political prisoner."_

_"What? That can't be. Political prisoners loose their birth-given claim. She would_"_

"Why _do you think she asked me to keep you updated about the political stuffs." Magnus swiftly snapped, cutting Jace in the middle of his rationalisation._

_Jace glanced at her closed door, narrowing his eyes as he did his best keep his heart steady. She was going to stay here. She was going to sacrifice all the happiness that being with her father and Godfather gave her, in order to insure peace in her kingdom._

_And still, there was a part of Jace who was trying to seduce him with this idea of his girl being title-less. If she was to become a nobody, just like him, he would be able to marry her._

_"I won't take the Kingdom," Jace declared. Though he knew now, that the King was expecting of him to insure his legacy, Jace knew he wouldn't be able to. "A kingdom should never been given to a man who kills without regrets."_

_"Are you telling me that you'd refuse this wish to your King?" Magnus asked, raising a surprised eyebrow, and Jace admitted:_

_"I would."_

_"And what if _she_ was the one to ask you. Would you still refuse?"_

_Jace closed his face, refusing to answer the question, nor to let Magnus know what he was thinking. The two men stayed a moment silent, Magnus waiting for Jace's answer, and then Jace started walking away as he said: "I'll send Santiago and Herondale to take over."_

And now, Jace was torn between confronting the Princess about her projects about him, and the idea of being alone in a room with her. Though he had always been in her shadow, she had always been surrounded by someone. A maid, King Luke, _the Prince_. The idea of finding himself alone with her in her room was terrifying, mostly because the two of them did their best to avoid looking at one another.

Jace was about to knock on her door, when the Prince appeared by his side; and Jace slightly tensed at his presence. If he was being honest with himself, he found that the Prince spent _way_ too much time with the Princess. And that he was making her _way_ too happy.

Ever since they got stuck in those peace negotiations in the Garroway castle, Jace never saw the Princess smile. That girl who had her whole face illuminated by his mere presence, seemed to have forgotten the signification of the world smile. That was until the Prince would show up next to her. Then, she would be so happy, smiling with all her heart as he'd bring her apples, or a bow, or he'd promise her a ballad by the gardens by night. The Prince was making the Princess happy, when Jace wasn't , and this was infuriating Jace in a way he never thought it could.

Never before he had had this urge to hurt someone so bad before. He just wanted to take the Prince away and replace him in making the Princess happy.

"General, do I have the permission to see her?" The Prince asked with a small smirk, because the two men knew that Jace couldn't refuse him the entrance -though he would have gladly done it.

"Your Majesty," Jace placidly said, planting his nails hard in his palms as the Prince entered with a valet of his. Jace followed, because he always made sure that the Princess wasn't alone with anyone. _Especially_ with the Prince. They were already close enough without Jace having to give them some 'alone time'.

As they entered the room, the Princess turned her eyes to the three men coming in her room, her hands automatically flying to braid her hair that was wild a second ago. Jace stayed by the door, his hands in his back as he watched Magnus leave the room, kissing the Princess on the forehead before doing so; and then he let his golden eyes travel on her dress. She was wearing a green dress that complimented her eyes and which had long silky sleeves. And still, her shoulders were bare, showing her fair skin as a necklace of emeralds was ornamenting her neck.

"I have a gift for you, Berry," The Prince said, with sparkles gleaming in his eyes; and then he signalled his valet to give to the Princess the holed box the young boy had in hands.

The Princess had a small smile spreading her lips, and she slowly opened the bow, while the box was still in the valet's hands. As soon as the bow was undone, the box opened on all sides, and a furry black ball escaped to go hide in the Princess's green skirt.

"A cat? That's so nice Seb," She said, delicately kneeling to take the feline in her arms with an obvious tenderness. The Prince walked to her and kneeled by her side under Jace's vigilant eyes, and then he reached to caress the feline's head as he told the Princess:

"It's not a cat, Berry. It's a baby panther."

The Princess who was spilling, cuddling the small animal lost any trace of happiness at the mention of this word. She blinked a little and turned her head to the Prince, asking with a quavering voice: "Pardon me?"

"I told you you'd see giant black cats before you'd die. One way, or another," The Prince explained with a small smile.

But it seemed that the Princess wasn't listening to him anymore. Her eyes were set on Jace. For the first time since she revealed herself, she was looking at him, straight in the eyes. Jace was looking at her with as little emotions as he could, but there, just in front of them was this little black hair ball given by the Prince. This one reminder of the promise Jace made to his girl under an apple tree that he would take her see giant black cats. A promise that they both knew he would never be able to fulfil. At least, not the way he hoped. Not with her as _his_ girl.

"Are you alright, Berry?" The Prince asked after the Princess stayed silent for more than five minutes, and it seemed to snap her out of her stare. She looked away from Jace and turned to the Prince, a small smile on her lips that was contradicting the tears in her eyes.

"Yes. Of course. That's such a lovely present, Seb."

"Why are you crying, then?" The Prince asked, wiping away her tears with his thumbs with an incredible delicacy.

"Because girls cry when they're happy."

"Then, why are you crying?" The Prince repeated with a playful tone, and the Princess chuckled, wiping her last tears away as King Luke ceremoniously entered the room. His eyes landed on the cub, before drifting to Jace, and he wickedly smiled as he said:

"Ha, the bastard is always near his sister, I see," Then he turned his head to his Godson and curtly said: "we need to talk."

The Prince unwillingly got up, kissing the Princess on her cheek before he walked outside as King Luke told the Princess: "By the way, Princess. Make sure that your men don't go rogue and that they stay where you instructed them to stay. We wouldn't want all those negotiations to have been for nothing, now, would we?"

The King walked out of the door, leaving the Princess and Jace alone, and the Princess slowly rose from the floor, letting her new pet wander in her room. She longly stared at Jace who still had King Luke's words echoing in his mind, telling him that his men were considered as a threat; and after interminable minutes, Jace slightly nodded to the Princess and turned on himself to leave the room.

But before he could even open the door, she interrupted him: "Can I ask you something."

"Of course, you can. You're the Princess," Jace said, though he was addressing to the door for it was easier like that to control his emotions.

"Can we pretend for a moment that I'm not? That we're back in those woods the first time when you held me against you and asked me my name?" She asked with a very small voice that made Jace grip the knob of the door tightly. He considered pretending that he didn't hear, but then he decided to be honest with her, like she had just been with him.

"No, we can't. Because all I'll think about is taking you back in my arms."

"Then _do_," The Princess said, Jace hearing the friction of her dress as she made a step toward him, and so he gripped the knob even so tighter, leaning his forehead against the door as she continued: "Remember? You laid me in your bed, and you asked me my name. And I told you that I didn't like it because it was too common. Well, I'm telling you now. It's Clarissa, but call me Clary."

"I should go, _Princess_," Was all Jace mustered to utter, without his voice wavering. He knew he shouldn't want her, that she was above him, that she was soon to be betrothed; and yet, all he could think about was how much he missed having her in his arms as she would tell him about her dreams and hopes.

"_You lied to me!_" The Princess snapped with anger, making Jace finally turn his face to her. As he was staring at her with disbelief, due to her words, she explained: "You said that you didn't care of who I was. This was obviously a lie."

"I didn't. But that doesn't change who you are."

"Then leave. Leave this castle. Do as I ordered you in the first place, and leave me alone!" The Princess said, turning her back on Jace and bringing her arms around herself as if to embrace and protect herself from unknown harm.

Jace stayed a moment speechless as he watched her being so fragile at this right moment, and then he noiselessly walked closer to her, until he was almost touching her with his body. He felt, rather than saw, the Princess, _Clary_, shiver at his sudden presence so close to her, and he leaned to whisper in her ear:

"Don't you think I want to hold you? Don't you think I wish you were by my side every night that passes by? Don't you think that I'd give anything to be able to touch you the way the Prince does, in the open? Don't you think that it kills me to see you with him as I can witness that smile of pure glee he puts on your face every time that he's around?"

Clary stayed silent, her back still facing Jace, even though she was shivering with her whole body, and Jace clenched hard his jaw and fists to stay in control with himself. He took a small step backward, which made the Princess snap her head to him, turning on herself, her eyes gleaming with unshed tears. In the blink of an eye, Jace closed this little distance between them, cupping her face to kiss her with a devouring passion.

She moaned at the contact of Jace's lips on hers, and urgently brought her arms around his neck as Jace was gently directing them to her bed, never breaking their kiss. As he laid her in the bed, Jace's conscience tried to take back the control of his body, but he quickly shoved any thoughts of duty and rightfulness away by trailing his kisses to her delicate neck.

Though he always had been careful and delicate with her, this time Jace was unleashing all the tension he built upon her. With a demanding urgency, he winded up the skirt of her dress as she was pressingly undoing his camisole. Before any of them knew how, Jace was empaling himself in her. She breathed out his name, with an obvious pleasure, and Jace brought his hand to her face, gripping her hair tightly and making her plant her nails in his back.

The more she was planting her nails in his skin, the harder Jace was thrusting, and in a last growl, Jace finished in her, finally allowing himself to call her by her small name. Then he rolled on the side, letting the realisation of what he just did come down to him as Clary sat up, bringing her knees to her chest.

"Are you going to say that this should have never happened?" She asked with a small, yet strong voice. Jace stayed silent, slowly sitting up in his turn, and Clary snapped her head to him, her eyes holding a thousand different emotions.

"It's okay, Jace. I know to whom your loyalty goes to, and I know that he'll always come first."

"What about you?"

"My loyalty is bound to go to my people before anyone else. I don't have a choice in the matter."

Jace swallowed hard as he realised that no matter what, she would always choose the wellbeing of her people before her own happiness. That, even he he wanted to take her away and run with her, the Princess in her would refuse because she owed it to her people to make the right and rational choice. And so Jace got up and kissed her forehead, whispering to her: "Despite everything, I don't regret a single moment I spent with you."

.

**~.o.O.o.~**

**.**

**see, I can can be nice. No cliffies. So tell me what you thought of this chapter, and what you think will happen next? **

**Id love to stay and chitchat, but OUAT is coming, and yeah, I have to fangirl over Killian. So, tell me if you liked this chapter, and until next time.**

**Anyways, Cassandra Clare owns the Mortal Instruments franchise, everything else is mine.**

**Kiss㈍9 Kiss㈍9 Bang㈝9 Bang㈝9. **


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